Poll: 85% of Greenlanders do not want to be part of the U.S.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (C), Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (L) and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen during a press conference following a meeting with party leaders regarding Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark, January 9, 2025. /CFP

An opinion poll indicated on Tuesday that 85 percent of Greenlanders do not wish their Arctic island, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, to become a part of the United States, Danish daily Berlingske reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that Greenland was vital to U.S. security and that Denmark should give up control of the strategically important island. Since then, he has repeatedly called for Washington to acquire Greenland and has refused to rule out using military force.

The survey by pollster Verian, commissioned by the Danish paper, showed that only six percent of Greenlanders favor becoming part of the U.S., with nine percent undecided, Berlingske said.

Denmark said on Monday that it would spend 14.6 billion crowns (about $2.04 billion) on boosting its military presence in the Arctic. 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited three European capitals on Tuesday, meeting French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. 

She said the country has received substantial support from fellow European nations as she seeks support to counter Trump's threats to take over the Arctic island.

Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede, who has stepped up a push for independence, has repeatedly said the island is not for sale and that it's up to its people to decide their future. 

He said on Tuesday that his government is working to arrange a meeting with Trump.

"It's very understandable that people are worried. But the most important thing now is that people remain calm," Egede said. "We must be able to meet and talk about this calmly."

With a land mass larger than Mexico and a population of 57,000, Greenland was granted broad self-governing autonomy in 2009, including the right to declare independence from Denmark through a referendum.

The U.S. military has a permanent presence at the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a strategic location for its ballistic missile early-warning system, as the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.

(With input from Reuters)