US President Donald Trump is expected to announce a $200 billion investment from South Korea, of which $54 billion will go to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska.
The announcement is expected to come from the White House on Wednesday and comes as President Trump seeks to defend the Republican Party’s economic record during a heated midterm election season.
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“Today, President Trump will announce major energy infrastructure investments that will immediately deliver on his promise to unlock America’s energy, unlock Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential, and accelerate America’s nuclear energy renaissance,” White House Press Secretary Taylor Rogers said.
In a social media post, Rogers touted the $54 billion LNG project as a “long-stalled venture” and a “winner” for Republican Dan Sullivan, who is defending his Senate seat in the Nov. 3 election.
Alaska is one of the Republican-leaning states that Democrats perceive as vulnerable in the midterm elections.
Democrats aim to flip both houses of Congress in November. However, with only 35 seats up for grabs in the 100-member Senate, each Senate race is extremely important in determining party leadership.
Sullivan is currently in a close race against former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola.
Billions of dollars invested in South Korea
The newly announced investments build on the $350 billion trade and investment agreement the United States signed with South Korea last November.
As part of the deal, the United States agreed to lower tariffs on South Korean-made cars, auto parts and other products. In return, South Korea pledged to invest $150 billion in U.S. shipbuilding and $200 billion in other strategic areas.
According to the White House, the Alaska investment project consists of a 1,300 km (807 mile) natural gas pipeline linking the North Slope region, an oil-rich tundra bordering the Arctic Ocean, to export terminals in the southern part of the state.
South Korea is the world’s third largest LNG importer after China and Japan.
Wednesday’s event will also announce South Korean investments in nuclear power plants and a 6-gigawatt power facility in Texas, another state where the Senate race is at stake.
There, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico is seeking to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas since 1994 as he competes against Republican Ken Paxton for the open seat.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced last week that the state’s gas-fired power plant, scheduled to be built in the southwestern Texas town of Encinal, is the first project selected by the state under a $200 billion strategic investment program.
Changes in Asia-Pacific relations
Since taking office for a second term in 2025, President Trump has denounced many unfair economic practices and sought to announce new trade deals with a wide range of international partners.
He has used the threat of U.S. tariffs as leverage to cement such deals. Last November, as part of a deal with South Korea, the Trump administration agreed to reduce tariffs on some imports from 25% to 15%.
South Korea has long been a close ally of Washington in the Asia-Pacific region, but relations have become increasingly strained in recent months.
For example, in August, President Trump announced that his administration would reduce the number of military exercises it conducts with South Korea, in part due to frustration with Asian countries’ lack of support for the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
The change in relations coincides with a decline in public support among South Koreans. Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center found that for the first time in 20 years, a majority of South Koreans have a negative view of the United States.
An estimated 55% of Koreans surveyed said they had a negative perception of North America.
But some Republican lawmakers are encouraging Trump to maintain close ties with South Korea as a bulwark against China’s growing influence in the region.
On Wednesday, ahead of the White House’s announcement, Michigan Representative John Moolener published an open letter calling an alliance between the two countries “vital.”
He also urged the Trump administration to “increase vigilance” over the deterioration of relations between South Korea and China, accusing South Korea of ”discriminatory treatment of American companies compared to (China)-related competitors.”
“The[U.S.-South Korea]alliance remains essential, and my interest is in strengthening it,” Moolener wrote.
“But the alliance is sustained by candor, and disagreements between allies on important national interests are not a matter to be taken lightly.”
