85% of Greenlanders don’t want their island to become part of the U.S., poll finds

Copenhagen — The vast majority of Greenland residents do not want their island to become part of the United States, as envisaged by President Trump, according to a poll published Wednesday. Mr. Trump, who returned to the White House in late January, has signaled that he wants the Arctic island — which is believed to hold large untapped mineral and oil reserves — to become part of the United States and has suggested the possible use of force or tariffs to annex the autonomous Danish territory.

When asked if they wanted to become part of the United States, 85% of Greenlanders said no, according to the poll published in the Danish Berlingske and Greenland’s Sermitsiaq dailies.

6% of those polled said they were in favor and 9% were undecided, according to the poll conducted by the Verian agency.

“It’s the first poll that asked a representative section of Greenland’s population and I think this is very important,” Kasper Moller Hansen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen, told AFP. “I think this poll shows very clearly that they do not want to be American.”

Around 45% of Greenlanders view Mr. Trump’s interest in their island as a “threat,” while 43% view it as an “opportunity” and 13% are undecided, according to the poll.

The poll questioned 497 respondents 18 years and older between January 22 and 26, and it had a margin of error between 1.9 and 4.4 percentage points.

Greenland has 57,000 residents. Officials in Greenland, which depends heavily on Denmark for subsidies, have long pushed for independence, but have said they are open to doing business with the United States.

A day after Mr. Trump was sworn in as president, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede insisted that Greenlanders “don’t want to be American.”

Greenland, located to the northeast of Canada and covered largely by the Greenland Ice Sheet, has a tiny population but is the largest island on the planet. In addition to the suspected natural resources, its location between the U.S., Russia and Europe makes it strategic for both economic and defense purposes — especially as melting sea ice opens up new shipping routes through the Arctic.

Greenland has also been the home for many years of the northernmost U.S. military base.