New polling shows that a majority of Americans reject president-elect Donald Trump’s recent imperialist demands, including his calls for the U.S. to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.
In mid-December, Trump demanded that the Panama Canal, territory that was returned to Panama as part of a 1977 treaty, be given back to the U.S., claiming that U.S. ships were being “ripped off.” While fees for ships moving through the canal have gotten higher in recent years, the increases have not targeted U.S. ships in particular.
Trump also demanded that Denmark sell the arctic island of Greenland to the U.S., claiming that it was needed for national security reasons.
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said in an announcement naming his ambassador to Denmark.
In actuality, Trump’s desire for Greenland likely stems from an economic opportunity he sees there — the melting glacial ice on the island could soon open up land to mining projects, which would cause great environmental harm to the area.
Trump, who has frequently expressed a desire for better trade deals with Canada — and threatened to impose massive tariffs if he doesn’t get his way, which would affect American consumers far more than the U.S.’s neighbor to the north — also mused that Canada should become the “51st state.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rebuked Trump’s statements, citing Canadian national identity and the impact tariffs would have on Americans. Polling of Canadians themselves shows that only 6 percent of residents support annexation of the country.
A new Economist/YouGov poll shows that U.S. residents are also deeply opposed to Trump’s imperialist goals.
Overall, a plurality of the poll’s respondents said they were opposed to the U.S. trying to gain ownership of Greenland and control of the Panama Canal. A majority also said they were opposed to the U.S. trying to attain Canada.
On the question of Panama, only 33 percent of Americans said the U.S. should try to regain control of the canal, while 42 percent were opposed — a -9-point rating. That rating decreased to -12 points when respondents were asked whether the U.S. should pursue control of the territory through use of the military.
The ratings were even lower on the issue of Greenland — just 28 percent said the U.S. should try to gain ownership of the island, while nearly one in two respondents (47 percent) were opposed to the idea — a rating of -19 points, which decreased to -43 points when asked if the military should get involved.
Attempts to turn Canada into U.S. territory had the lowest rating. Only 18 percent of Americans backed that idea, while 60 percent said they opposed it, the poll found — a net rating of -42 points.
Respondents were also asked additional questions, including whether Puerto Rico should become a U.S. state. Forty-five percent of Americans said they supported that idea, the survey shows, while only 28 percent said they were opposed. (The poll did not question respondents over whether Puerto Rico should be granted independence.)
On the issue of Washington, D.C. becoming a state, 39 percent said they liked the idea while 33 percent said they were opposed.
But on whether the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the “Gulf of America” (as Trump has proposed), the survey showed 2-to-1 opposition, with 24 percent supporting the idea and 55 percent opposed.
Leaders from both Panama and Greenland have rebuffed Trump’s statements on annexing their lands.
“Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue belonging (to Panama),” Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said last month.
“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale,” Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede said.
Denmark’s leaders have stood beside Greenland’s refusal to entertain Trump’s demands that the U.S. own the island, though they have opened backchannels to discussing the U.S. having a greater presence there.
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