Majorities Oppose Top Trump Priorities On Greenland, Canada And A Third Term, Poll Finds

Eight out of 10 Americans surveyed in a fresh ABC News/Washington Post poll oppose President Donald Trump serving a constitutionally barred third term in office, one of several high-profile Trump goals that a majority of respondents rejected.

Released on Tuesday, the poll found that 86 percent of Americans oppose the United States trying to take control of Canada, 80 percent oppose Trump serving a third term, 76 percent oppose trying to take control of Greenland and 66 percent oppose sending U.S. citizens to foreign prisons.

The emphatic opposition from those polled to some of the president’s pet projects could signal a growing skepticism of Trump’s policies. These findings follow a string of negative polling for the Trump administration in recent weeks, including the president’s slipping approval rating.

The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the polling.

Though respondents were cool on some of Trump’s top priorities, they showed little doubt that the president is serious about pursuing them.

Seventy-one percent of respondents think Trump is serious when he discusses sending American citizens who are convicted of violent crimes to foreign prisons, and 68 percent believe his vow to try to take control of Greenland, according to the poll.

Fewer of those polled — but still a 62 percent majority — believe Trump is keen on serving a third term, despite the constitutional barriers preventing him from running again. Fifty-three percent think Trump is also serious when he talks about the U.S. trying to take control of Canada.

While respondents were mostly opposed to many of the president’s agenda items, the 39 percent of those polled who approve of the way Trump is handling his presidency also largely approved of his most polarizing goals. The most popular of the proposals is the sending of U.S. citizens convicted of violent crimes to foreign prisons, which is supported by 59 percent of those who gave the president positive job approval ratings.

Support dwindled for some of the other initiatives. Forty-nine percent of those who approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency said they approve of the U.S. trying to take control of Greenland, while 43 percent of that cohort like the idea of his serving a third term. Only 29 percent of the president’s backers support the U.S. having control over Canada.

Only 35 percent of Republicans who agreed to be surveyed said they think Trump is serious about taking over Canada, as opposed to 75 percent of Democratic respondents. Thirty-eight percent of Republicans polled think he’s serious about a third term, compared with 88 percent of Democrats surveyed.

The poll surveyed 2,464 adults from April 18 to 22 with a margin of error of plus-or-minus two percentage points, including the design effect, with larger error margins for subgroups.