Do Americans support Trump buying new territories — or invading them? What poll finds
Since winning election, President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in territorial expansion, breaking with his recent predecessors and hearkening back to an era of American imperialism.
Specifically, Trump has designs on incorporating Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal into the U.S. — potentially by applying economic pressure, or in the case of the latter two, military force.
“The Panama Canal is vital to our country,” he said shortly before his inauguration, according to the Associated Press. “We need Greenland for national security purposes.”
But what do Americans think of these plans, which could draw the U.S. into war, violate international law, alienate allies and dramatically reshape the country?
What a poll shows
A strong majority of Americans, 66%, are opposed to U.S. territorial expansion accomplished “by invading other countries and territories,” according to a recent poll from More in Common.
In contrast, just 13% support the U.S. launching an invasion to acquire territory, and 16% were not sure.
But when it comes to territorial expansion accomplished in a peaceful manner, the responses were more mixed.
Less than half of respondents, 43%, were opposed to enlarging the U.S. via “purchasing new territories,” while 26% were in favor of this method and 24% were not sure.
Responses varied somewhat based on partisanship, with 37% of Republicans and 20% of Democrats favoring territorial purchases. Meanwhile, roughly the same share of Republicans and Democrats — 16% and 15% — favored expansion via invasion.
Conducted between Jan. 13 and 16, the poll sampled 2,003 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Other foreign policy goals, though, were far more popular.
The majority of respondents — including most Democrats and Republicans — said they favored honoring America’s international alliances (72%), making sure the world respects America (65%), and staying out of conflicts and wars around the globe (63%).
An additional 60% said they favor protecting democracies from being invaded by powerful neighbors, and 50% said they support championing and advancing democracy around the world.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Do Americans support Trump buying new territories — or invading them? What poll finds."