President Donald Trump rallied his supporters in Wasilla Tuesday, celebrating his moves to allow more resource development in Alaska.
“Nobody's done more for Alaska than Donald J. Trump,” he said. “That I can tell you.”
He spoke for nearly 90 minutes, not always truthfully or with accuracy.
It was a mix of endorsements for Republicans, mocking Democrats, and telling some of his greatest hits from rallies around the country. He also issued onstage pardons to two Anchorage auto shop owners who were convicted of removing pollution control equipment from diesel vehicles.
Trump urged the crowd to vote for Sen. Dan Sullivan, a two-term Republican in a tight race, and Congressman Nick Begich.
Trump said he had to make the long trip to Alaska “because we have to make sure that Dan gets in. We have to make sure that Nick Begich gets in, and to be honest with you, we have to make sure that Bernadette Wilson becomes your governor,” he said to cheers from the spectators.
Earlier in the day, on social media, Trump announced his endorsement of Wilson. He pointed her out in the rally crowd but did not invite her on stage with him to speak.
Sullivan, on the other hand, spoke from the rally podium. He praised Trump and some of his own accomplishments. He called the behavior of his Democratic opponent, Mary Peltola, “shameful.” He referred to a New York Times story about her that described episodes of fury and poor treatment of staff.
He described the reliably Republican Matanuska-Susitna area as key in the November election.
“If we turn out voters in the Mat-Su Valley, we're going to win,” Sullivan said.
The senator also put the Iran War in an unusual context.
“The conflict in the Middle East is temporary. The true forever war is the national Democrats' war against Alaska oil and gas and our jobs,” Sullivan said. “That's the forever war.”
The president promised the war against Iran would end “very soon.”
He claimed success in getting South Korea to invest $50 billion in Alaska’s natural gas pipeline, though that country’s leaders said they’d made no such commitment. And he announced that Taiwan has agreed to invest $4.4 billion. Taiwan signed a letter of intent last year to buy Alaska gas. The Taipei Times reports that the Ministry of Economic Affairs had no immediate comment and the premier spoke of a long road ahead.
As he has at other rallies, Trump promised a government payout if his party succeeds in the November election.
“If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate, I'm going to give all adult citizens in the United States $5,000,” he pledged.
The arrangement has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans. Its estimated total cost would be more than $1 trillion.
Alaskans waited in line for hours to see the president. The venue, the Menard Sports Center, has a capacity of 3,500 and seemed crowded.
Peltola spent the day “talking with Alaskans off the road system,” a campaign spokesman said by email.
“Mary welcomes any President visiting the state to hear about the issues Alaskans are facing, and she looks forward to working with President Trump to unleash Alaska energy and lower costs for when she’s elected to the United States Senate,” the email said.
Begich’s main opponent, independent Bill Hill, attended a protest in Anchorage.
