President Donald Trump is pulling out the stops to give Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan a leg up heading into the November election, announcing on Wednesday an unconfirmed plan for South Korea to fund a 807-mile liquefied natural gas pipeline in Alaska.
But new polling suggests Trump doesn’t have the same sway over the 49th state that he once did.
Thanks in large part due to rising costs, Trump’s popularity is negative territory, according to new polling released by Navigator Research earlier this week, and Alaskans’ view of how he’s handled the economy over his first two years back in office is even worse off. In terms of overall favorability, he’s sitting at -5 with 52% holding an unfavorable opinion of Trump to 47% favorable.
When it comes to the economy, just 40% of Alaskans approve of the job Trump’s doing, while 59% of voters don’t. About two thirds of Alaskans view the state’s economy negatively.
And that negative sentiment is trickling down to Congressional Republicans, with 48% of Alaska voters saying Trump and Republicans in Congress are most to blame for rising costs, while just 37% blamed Democrats—who don’t currently hold any majorities.
The president’s declining approval numbers have made several US Senate races in states that Trump won comfortably—like Alaska, where he won by 16 points in 2024—surprisingly competitive.
Sullivan lost the state’s open primary election to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola by 8%, and polling suggests that Peltola’s in a strong position to defeat Sullivan in the general election.
According to the poll, most voters view Sullivan unfavorably on pretty much every single issue that matters, whether it’s fighting inflation (-25 points), standing up to corruption (-23) or “looking out for people like me” (-12). The only area where Sullivan got positive marks was on border issues, where he has a net approval of +25.
It’s also important to note the latest round of polling was conducted in late August, before diesel fuel prices spiked to record highs thanks to new fighting in Trump’s war with Iran. While those escalating prices have rattled some Republicans—causing them to cast largely symbolic votes against the war—Sullivan has stood firm behind Trump and voted last week to continue the war, which is in its eighth month.
Peltola has made high fuel prices a key campaign issue, arguing that diesel nearing $7 per gallon is a threat to Alaskans’ way of life, especially when it comes to the fishing industry. Sullivan, meanwhile, has struggled to justify his support for the war or his sudden apathy when it comes to high gas prices.
At the Kodiak fisheries debate last month, he suggested that the solution to high energy prices is simply more energy production in Alaska.
Big, empty promises from Trump
But the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (AKLNG) project that Trump announced on Wednesday isn’t expected to come online until the early 2030s, and that’s if everything goes perfectly for the project—which it hasn’t.
While Trump, Sullivan, and US Rep. Nick Begich III touted the news at Wednesday’s Oval Office news conference, the megaproject was the focus of intense legislative debate this year amid concerns about the project’s viability and whether it would even lower utility costs for the Alaskans who live in areas that were theoretically supposed to benefit from the line.
No officials from South Korea—or the private company pursuing the gas line—were present at the White House meeting on Wednesday, and their absence undercuts the effusive praise that Republicans had for one another.
South Korea Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan splashed cold water on the investment with reporters on Thursday, as reported by The Korea Times, explaining that everything related to AKLNG is preliminary and still subject to the project penciling out.
“This morning (after the announcement), I lodged a strong protest with (US Secretary of Commerce Howard) Lutnick as the announcement went far beyond what was agreed, as the countries agreed to proceed with the Alaska project only on the premise that commercial reasonableness is guaranteed,” Kim told reporters.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
