Five Weeks Before the Midterms, Trump Announces South Korea Will Put $54 Billion Into the Alaska LNG Pipeline — "One of the Largest Energy Infrastructure Investments in American History" — Alaska's Delegation Celebrates, and the Next Morning Seoul Says "Nothing Has Been Determined" About Whether to Invest at All
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, President Trump announced at the White House that South Korea would invest $54 billion in the long-stalled Alaska LNG project — an 800-mile gas pipeline from the North Slope to an export terminal — as part of $200 billion in South Korean energy investments under the 2025 U.S.–Korea trade deal, which also include nuclear power and a 6-gigawatt power plant in Texas. Trump said Korea had "paid to get [tariffs] reduced, and part of that money is going into this project," and credited Sen. Dan Sullivan as "totally responsible for this pipeline." Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Korea would put "more than $50 billion into the Alaska project." Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation and Gov. Mike Dunleavy celebrated in a joint release, and Sullivan's Democratic challenger, former Rep. Mary Peltola, also welcomed the news. No South Korean official appeared at the event. The next morning, Oct. 1, Seoul's industry ministry said Korea had agreed only to "begin a review" of the project "on the premise of commercial rationality" and that "nothing has been determined regarding whether to invest or the scale"; the ruling Democratic Party's secretary-general said participation "has not been finalized." To date Seoul has approved only the Texas project. The announcement came the same afternoon Trump called the Alaska Senate race, which features a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, "crooked as hell."
“We're thrilled to announce one of the largest energy infrastructure investments in American history. … The colossal package of investments we are announcing today is a major step toward securing our critical energy supply chain, ensuring American energy dominance and making our partnership with South Korea and the entire Pacific region stronger than ever before. … Dan Sullivan, the senator of Alaska, has been a great senator, and he's been working on this deal and other deals in Alaska, the pipeline, for almost 20 years.”