At a rally in Wasilla on Tuesday, President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said America’s war with Iran is worth the resulting increased cost of fuel and food for Americans. “No matter what it is, it’s a small price to pay for stopping them from having a nuclear weapon,” Trump said of Iran. Fuel prices have risen in Alaska and the United States at large since Trump began the Iran war alongside Israel on Feb. 28.
According to the latest available state report, heating fuel prices in rural Alaska climbed to an average of $8 per gallon by August, up from $6.49 per gallon in January. Sullivan has voted 14 times against War Powers Act resolutions that could limit or end American involvement in it. Before the current war, Sullivan supported the Trump-ordered bombing of Iran last year and has advocated military action against the country.
Speaking on Tuesday in Wasilla, Sullivan said the best way to reduce fuel costs in Alaska is to produce more oil and gas locally, and he said Alaskans should re-elect him because national Democrats oppose oil and gas development. “It’s important to remember this: the best way to address Alaska’s energy challenges is to produce more Alaskan energy by and for Alaskans,” Sullivan said. “Ladies and gentlemen, 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. That’s the forever war,” he said.
Trump and Sullivan on Russia and Putin While Sullivan and Trump are aligned on Iran, they differ in their opinions on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Sullivan has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator, the leader of a mafia regime, and an authoritarian. Trump has called Putin a friend. In a TV interview before Tuesday’s rally, the President was asked about their difference of opinion. “Well, look, I have to make deals with people, so I don’t go around calling them names. I’m a dealmaker; I’ve always been a very good dealmaker. I became very rich because of deals, so I don’t go around mocking people,” he said.
Trump has issued orders that allow Russia to export diesel fuel, possibly lowering global prices but contributing to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Members of Congress, including Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have criticized Trump’s decision, but the President defended his choice in the interview. “It’s not oil coming to us, and it’s diesel, which you need. I feel that it’s great because it’s released to the world,” Trump said.
Sullivan, the incumbent Republican, is in a close race against Democratic challenger Mary Peltola, who has criticized Trump for starting the war and Sullivan for supporting it. “We should be standing up to the president, and there have been many times where the Senate and the House have said no to the administration on wars. Where is our backbone?” Peltola said during an Anchorage forum on Oct. 8. Peltola and Sullivan are in a four-person general election that also includes Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg and Republican Gerald Heikes of Palmer.
Speaking on Tuesday, Trump said, “We’re very close to winning – I mean, we’ve – I think we’ve won the war because they will – Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, let me put it that way. That war is going to end very soon and when it does, your prices are going to come tumbling down. They already are.” National and state data has not shown a significant decline in fuel prices over the past month, and consumer price inflation in September was 3.7%, up from August.
In a visit to Fairbanks earlier this month, Vice President J.D. Vance offered comments similar to the ones that Trump made this week, including statements to the effect that Democrats are the enemy.
