Opinion poll finds majority of Greenlanders support joining the U.S.
Patriot Polling’s ranking based on the organisation’s previous polls calls its reliability into question.
CLAIM
The majority of residents of Greenland support joining the U.S., according to a new opinion poll.
BACKGROUND
An opinion poll by the U.S. polling firm Patriot Polling was conducted among 416 residents of Greenland between January 6 and 11. The poll found that 57.3 percent support the territory’s joining the U.S. The poll was conducted as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump expressed a renewed interest in America purchasing the autonomous Danish territory and the Panama Canal.
Trump first floated the idea of acquiring Greenland during his previous administration.
When reporters asked him last week if he would rule out using military or economic force, he said, “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.”
On Tuesday, January 14, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede reportedly said his government was looking for ways to work with the U.S. on defence and exploring its mining resources. Denmark’s foreign minister on Monday also said it would work with Greeland to “continue talks” with Trump.
METHOD
Patriot Polling on its website describes itself as a “non-partisan organisation that conducts surveys across America”. It was set up by then-high school students Lucca Ruggieri and Arhan Kaul in 2022. Ruggieri was reported in April 2024 to be working as a campaign manager for Republican Neil Young’s campaign for Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District.
While a post on X by the organisation said the question asked was “Do you support Greenland joining the United States?” the actual question, according to their website, was “Do you approve or disapprove of the United States acquiring Greenland from Denmark.”
The poll was conducted using automated phone calls, and the language in which the questions were asked is not specified.
Polls rating organisation fivethirtyeight ranks in 249th place out of 282 polling organisations, giving it only one star. It ranks particularly low on “error and bias” and has only had 10 polls that have been rated so far. Patriot Polling also specifies that this was the first survey it has conducted outside the U.S.
Some reports have also highlighted the timing of the poll, coinciding with Donald Trump Jr’s visit to Greenland, possibly impacting public opinion.
A recent poll published by Nasiffik, the Centre for Foreign and Security Policy at the University of Greenland (Ilisimatusarfik), found that 60 percent of Greenland’s 57,000 population would vote for EU membership if a referendum were held.
The poll, published in ‘The Second Foreign and Security Policy Opinion Poll in Greenland’ in December 2024, also asked whether Greenlanders wanted more or less cooperation with the U.S. It found 59 percent wanted more cooperation, 23.5 percent less, and 17.5 percent answered they didn’t know.
This marked a decline in how much cooperation Greenlanders want with the U.S. from 69.1 percent in the last survey in 2021.
A survey published in 2019 and conducted by the University of Copenhagen showed that two-thirds (67.7 percent) of the adult population would like independence from Denmark “at some point in the future”.
RATING
Too little is known about how the poll was conducted to judge its reliability. Patriot Polling’s ranking based on the organisation’s previous polls calls its reliability into question. Recent opinion polls conducted by the University of Greenland indicate a decline in the population’s support for working with the U.S.
SOURCES
Altinget (2019). Martin Breum: Her er den egentlige forskel på dansk og grønlandsk syn på fremtiden. [online] [Accessed 14 ja. 2025].
BBC (2025). Greenland ready to work with U.S. on defence, says PM. [Accessed 14 Jan. 2025].
CBS (2024). Great Valley High School senior working dream job as congressional campaign manager for Republican Neil Young. [Accessed 14 Jan. 2025].
Patriot Polling (2025). Greenland supports joining the United States. [Accessed 14 Jan. 2025].
Rasmus Leander, N. and Maria, A. (2024). The Second Foreign and Security Policy Opinion Poll. [online] Ilisimatusarfik. [Accessed 14 Jan. 2025].
X (formerly Twitter). (2025). Available at: Patriot Poll of Greenland Do you support Greenland joining the United States? [Accessed 14 Jan. 2025].
538 (2016). Pollster Ratings. [online] FiveThirtyEight. [Accessed 14 Jan. 2025].