Trump, Facing Electoral Pressure, Courts Battleground Votes With South Korean Investment Funds Still Under Negotiation

[Financial News] U.S. President Donald Trump's mention of the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) development project while announcing South Korean investment projects in the United States on the 30th of last month (local time) appears to have been aimed at winning votes ahead of the midterm elections.
The political mood among Alaska voters has become so uncertain that the Trump administration announced as a fait accompli a project the South Korean government had classified as a matter for future consultations.
Alaska was traditionally a Republican stronghold. In the 2024 presidential election alone, President Trump decisively defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, winning 54.5% of the vote to her 41.4%. For decades, the state has backed Republicans not only in presidential elections but also in Senate races.
Yet Alaska is now witnessing a close Senate race. Republican incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan is being hotly pursued by Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, turning the state into a battleground ahead of the November midterm elections.
With Republicans increasingly concerned that they could lose not only the House but also the Senate to Democrats, holding Alaska is an urgent matter for President Trump as he seeks to preserve the Senate majority.
The Trump administration's announcement that South Korea would invest more than $50 billion in the Alaska LNG development project amounts to significant political support for Sullivan.
The Alaska LNG development project had long been a local priority, but it failed to materialize because its profitability remained uncertain. Sullivan had also worked hard to advance the project and hopes Trump's announcement will help broaden his support.

President Trump's announcement that $200 billion in South Korean investment in the United States would be used for a gas-fired combined-cycle power plant and the construction of a large nuclear power plant in Texas is also being interpreted in the same context.
Texas, once a Republican stronghold, is now considered a Democratic-leaning state in the Senate race, rather than merely a competitive one.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also said that eight large nuclear power units, backed by $120 billion in South Korean investment, would be built in Ohio, the State of Tennessee (TN), South Carolina and Kentucky.
Ohio and South Carolina are also traditionally Republican-leaning states, but they are currently battlegrounds.
Trump's strategy appears to be to attract massive South Korean investment, promote a revival of the U.S. economy and create jobs, then turn those achievements into Republican votes in the midterm elections.
Neither President Trump nor Secretary Lutnick mentioned that the Alaska LNG development project and the large nuclear power plants remain matters requiring additional consultations between South Korea and the United States.

President Trump has recently been providing indirect support to embattled Republican candidates through announcements of major projects.
A prime example was his September 28 announcement of a plan to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa. The announcement centered on securing investment for Mesabi Metallics, an affiliate of an Indian conglomerate, to build the largest steel mill in U.S. history.
The Iowa Senate race is following a pattern similar to Alaska's. President Trump won the state decisively in the 2024 presidential election with 55.7% of the vote, and Republicans had won every Senate election there over the past decade or so. Now, however, Democrats are seeking to reclaim the seat amid an extremely close race.
[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Specialist Reporter