In the weekly “Question of the Week” poll that is a feature of the Must Read Alaska newsletter, Alaskans are favorable toward the idea of Greenland becoming a new United States territory.
78% of the nearly 600 respondents so far are supportive of President Donald Trump’s idea of purchasing the island of Greenland from Denmark.
Must Read Alaska’s newsletter is published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The question of the week always ends Thursday mornings and results are published in each Friday’s edition.
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Greenlanders are also in favor of joining the United States, according to a recent poll by Patriot Polling.
Patriot Polling surveyed 416 people in Greenland, which has an adult population of only around 32,000. It’s the first poll to ask Greenlanders what they think.
Trump has for months floated the idea of buying Greenland from Denmark. His idea has gotten traction in recent days.
Not everyone is onboard. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is on record saying the idea is “offensive.” She is in the never-Trump, anti-Trump camp. Congressman Nick Begich III called it “history defining.”
Americans hired Trump to be president because he has big ideas and is a change agent. Buying more territory for the USA is something a change agent would do. Why would Americans hire a change agent and then tell him he can’t be a change agent?
Americans may be ready for some big ideas after the Biden years. According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans give a negative assessment of President Joe Biden’s time in office,
“Majorities of Americans think the U.S. has lost ground in six areas over the past four years, including the federal debt (67%), immigration (64%), the gap between the wealthy and less well-off (60%), the economy (59%), the United States’ position in the world (58%) and crime (51%). Pluralities also say the nation has fallen behind in six other areas: education, terrorism, trade relations with other countries, race relations, the nation’s infrastructure and energy,” according to Gallup.
Trump would not be the first to try to add Greenland to US territory. Secretary of State William Seward wanted to buy Greenland in 1867 and President Andrew Johnson considered it, as did President William Taft in 1910.
Greenland is especially rich in minerals and has been a mining province since the 1700s. First populated by Vikings, it went into Danish control and in 1953 Denmark formally added it as part of its kingdom.
Congressman Nick Begich III of Alaska seems open to the idea of a Greenland, USA territory:
“In 1868 US Secretary William H. Seward, the architect of the Alaska Purchase, identified Greenland as an acquisition target that could stabilize our nascent supply chain w/critical minerals like cryolite, while bolstering US naval reach. Today, we know that Arctic routes in the waters off Greenland are more crucial than ever and that a strengthened US presence in the region enhances global security. Further, an inclusion of Greenland as a U.S. territory would substantially expand the national portfolio of critical minerals and other important resources while enhancing the way of life for local Greenlanders. Concepts like these are history defining, and despite being ridiculed at the time, Alaskans are thankful for the vision of William Seward in architecting the Alaska Purchase,” Begich wrote on X last week.
