Trump went all the way to Alaska in a sign of just how close its Senate race may be

WASILLA, Alaska -- It’s a long way from Washington, has a small population and hasn't backed a Democrat for Senate in nearly 20 years. Yet President Donald Trump on Tuesday devoted a big chunk of his dwindling time ahead of crucial midterm elections to head to Alaska — attempting to bolster a Republican incumbent senator in another sign of GOP fears about retaining control of Congress after Election Day on Nov. 3.Trump headlined a rally for Sen. Dan Sullivan in Wasilla, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Anchorage — famous for being the hometown of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and the headquarters of the Iditarod sled dog race across the state.Trump's stop is part of a western swing also taking him to rallies in Arizona and Montana on Wednesday.The president noted to the crowd that he had flown eight hours to rally for Sullivan, whom he called “one of the best and most respected senators in D.C.” Sullivan, seeking a third term, faces Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman who is running to put “Alaska first” and emphasizing cost-of-living issues. During Tuesday's rally, Trump announced that Taiwan would purchase gas from a proposed mega-gas project that he has been highlighting amid Sullivan's campaign and that it would invest more than $4 billion. There was no immediate confirmation from Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own. The White House did not immediately provide further details.Trump also said the Federal Communications Commission would vote in the coming weeks on investing an additional $162 million in expanding high-speed internet access in Alaska. And he announced pardons for two men who had pleaded guilty in 2022 to Clean Air Act violations for tampering with federally mandated monitoring devices on certain vehicles.Democrats last won a Senate seat in Alaska in 2008, and the state hasn’t elected a governor from that party since 1998. The only time Alaska didn’t vote Republican for president was during Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide 1964 reelection.Yet high gasoline prices from the Iran war and persistently elevated inflation have damaged Trump’s approval ratings enough to leave Democrats dreaming of Alaska upsets.Alaska pollster Ivan Moore said he's seen a decline in Trump's support statewide that mirrors the president's falling approval ratings nationally. That means the Senate race may be decided by Trump 2024 voters who are now unsure they still back him. “The visit is certainly appropriate. Whether the visit will be effective or not is another matter," said Moore, who said when he first heard that Trump would visit Alaska, he didn't believe it would actually happen.The Trump administration has prioritized expanding oil and gas drilling in the state. Vice President JD Vance last week campaigned in Fairbanks for Sullivan and Republican Rep. Nick Begich.Sullivan recently joined Trump in the Oval Office, where the president announced a $54 billion investment by South Korea's government into the proposed Alaska gas project. That's despite South Korea saying the deal, and its total value, haven't been finalized.Versions of a gas project have been proposed in Alaska for decades.Trump trekking four time zones west to get to Sullivan’s home turf — an unusually long trip so close to the midterms — is his strongest show of support for the incumbent.Alaska is home to around 740,000 people, making it slightly less populous than Denver. It ranks 48th out of 50 states in population, smaller than all but Vermont and Wyoming. Trump nonetheless headlined a 2022 rally in Anchorage opposing Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski after she voted to convict him on a charge of incitement of insurrection during his second impeachment trial, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.Popular ReadsTrump endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, who challenged Murkowski that year, but that didn't stop incumbent Murkowski from winning reelection. In Wasilla, Max Christensen was waiting in line for the rally and said he hoped to hear more specifics from Trump about the natural gas project, and said he was “really curious just to see how he’s going to handle things like inflation and gas prices and things like that.”Christensen, 22, said he thinks Trump has been a great president “despite all his flaws and stuff," adding, “I think he really does genuinely care about the people of the United States of America.”Trump has complained about Alaska’s unique elections system. The state has open primaries, in which the four top vote-getters — regardless of party affiliation — advance to the general election, which uses ranked choice voting.That's led to a scenario where there also will be another Dan Sullivan on the November ballot: retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan, whom Trump and other allies of Sen. Sullivan have called a sham candidate. Dan J. Sullivan has denied this, but Trump continued to hammer the other Sullivan at his rally.“They found a guy named Dan Sullivan, they put him up to get things a little confused,” Trump said, as he repeatedly urged his supporters to vote for “the real Dan Sullivan.”Trump also touted Begich, who is facing a competitive challenge from Bill Hill, an independent.Alaska has a history of rewarding candidates with an independent streak — something Vance acknowledged during his trip to Fairbanks last week."In very deep red years, Alaska is competitive. In very deep blue ​years, Alaska is still competitive,” Vance said. “I think it’s just a reality of the politics of the ‌state.” Independence has been hard to find in the Republican Party, where Trump for years has had total control. Some Republicans facing tough elections have begun tiptoeing away from the president on key issues such as Iran and tariffs, but not Sullivan, who has been vocal in supporting both.Trump also questioned why three Republicans were running against a Democrat for governor and endorsed Bernadette Wilson, who finished third in the August primary but was the top vote-getting Republican. This came at the same time state GOP leaders — including outgoing Gov. Mike Dunleavy — are urging voters to rank Republicans on the ballot.Many Republicans — despite reservations with ranked voting — have seen a ranking strategy in that race as crucial for Republicans trying to win the seat.Trump has also triggered a trade war with Canada, which shares a 1,500-plus-mile (2,450-kilometer) border with Alaska and is among the state's most important trading partners. The U.S. banned nearly $1 billion worth of imports from its neighbor — including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles — after previously imposing 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian products. Canada has responded with reciprocal bans and its own import levies, and the back-and-forth could raise prices for Alaska consumers.Making Canada an enemy of sorts is "discomforting" for many Alaskans, said pollster Moore.“We associate, I think, probably more closely with the Canadians — more than a lot of the Lower 48," he said.___Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Seung Min Kim in Washington and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.