Trump touts Korea's $54B LNG pledge, but Alaskans are tired of hearing it

Doubts are emerging over whether the Alaska liquefied natural gas pipeline project — which the Trump administration has aggressively promoted by citing unconfirmed South Korean investment — will deliver any real electoral benefit in the midterm elections.

Politico reported Monday (local time) that the Trump administration has publicly declared that South Korea and Taiwan will invest in the Alaska LNG pipeline project as part of a bid to win over Alaskan voters in the midterms, and is counting on the pledge to help Republicans hold their seats in the state. The actual impact, however, is far from certain. The pipeline has been a long-cherished goal for Alaskans — promised across generations — yet voters are well aware that the project has struggled to prove commercially viable for decades.

Politico cited an analysis by Scott Kendall, a veteran political strategist who served as chief of staff to former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, an independent, saying Alaskans have grown "fatigued" by the promise. "The idea of making this pipeline a reality is something that could capture the attention of voters across the political spectrum," Kendall told Politico. "But Alaskans are experiencing fatigue. They've been promised a gas pipeline across generations since the 1980s." He added that the Alaska LNG project "is a big deal and it matters" and that "people are talking about it," but said he was unsure "whose mind it's going to change."

As Kendall noted, the Alaska LNG pipeline is a project backed by roughly 80 percent of the state's residents. Discussions about building it date back to the Jimmy Carter administration, yet the project has seen no meaningful progress for decades due to the enormous cost of laying a pipeline across Alaska's vast, frozen wilderness.

Politico said voters have also been left questioning Trump's claims after his assertions that South Korea's $54 billion investment and Taiwan's $80 billion purchase agreement were all but finalized ran up against more cautious statements from both governments. Following Trump's announcement, South Korea said officially that it had begun reviewing the Alaska LNG project. Taiwan similarly said that while negotiations had advanced, the specific terms of any purchase agreement had not been finalized. Campaign analysts said skepticism toward Trump's statements began to grow as he rolled out other pledges of questionable feasibility, including a promise to send voters a $5,000 check if Republicans win the midterms.

A Republican communications strategist who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity said many voters have started to see Trump as "just another politician" because "so many of his promises feel hollow and don't come true." The strategist said the Trump administration "lost a lot of credibility by promising the Iran war would end quickly and that gas prices would come down — neither of which happened," adding that the $5,000 check pledge "feels extremely hollow, and even MAGA doesn't actually believe it."