Trump keeps trying to strong-arm Korea, Japan for tens of billions for Alaska LNG. It won't work.

The United States is summoning officials of Japan and South Korea to Alaska June 2 to continue the pressure campaign to get those nations to pledge tens of billions for what Sen. Dan Sullivan calls “America’s Gasline.”

The New York Times reported Thursday on the alleged summit, saying the Trump administration wants a “formal commitment within the next few weeks to a $44 billion natural gas project in Alaska.” The Times cited three anonymous sources about the meeting.

“The project’s proponents want to be able to announce at the summit that they have received signed letters of intent from Japan and South Korea to invest in Alaska LNG or purchase its gas, the people said. Taiwan formally signed a similar letter of intent to purchase gas from Alaska LNG last month,” the Times said.

There won’t be any formal commitments at the June 2 summit for America’s Gasline.

The U.S. wants private companies in Japan, Korea and Taiwan to promise to buy gas for 20 years and pay for it whether they use the gas or not. These binding contracts are supposed to be solid enough that the guarantees from overseas buyers can be used as the collateral to back loans for tens of billions to construct the project.

The Alaska summit, called by President Trump’s “National Energy Dominance Council,” strikes me as incredibly disrespectful to Japan and Korea, putting both nations in a submissive position when the U.S. is demanding their money. The lack of diplomacy from Trump and his sycophants is no surprise.

Energy dominance, a phrase that tough-talking GOP politicians love, doesn’t mean much of anything. It is political babble on the level of drill baby, drill and professional wrestling. The notion is that energy will be dirt cheap and plentiful when dominance emerges. No oil company wants to live with that combo, however.

The lack of trust in Trump remains the biggest threat to any gasline.

Trump can’t stop blinking as he backs away from Liberation Day—his failed attempt to show dominance over world trade with his idiotic tariffs. The Koreans and Japanese will not be tricked by the Trump pressure campaign. The Trump demand for haste will be met with patience.

It is likely, however, that signed letters of intent from both Korea and Japan are likely in our immediate future.

But there will be no commitments. The letters will be diplomatic pledges that Alaska LNG deserves real study and consideration.

It’s possible that Gov. Mike Dunleavy pushed Trump for this summit, which is one day before his annual sustainable energy conference in Anchorage.

Dunleavy traveled to Japan, Korea and Taiwan a month ago, but returned without anything in writing from Japan and Korea.

Getting officials of Korea and Japan to visit Alaska will be another attempt to get something on paper that can be held up as a sign of progress. It is a pressure campaign, as is the entire Trump tariff tantrum. My guess is that Dunleavy thinks having Trump officials visit Alaska will amount to more leverage.

One reason that there will be no binding promises is that no one knows how much the LNG will cost. No amount of boasting by Trump and his crew about the Golden Age of America can conquer the question of cost.

There is no updated analysis of the real price of the LNG project, which is bound to be more than the $44 billion figure that is quoted in every news story. No one is going to sign a contract to buy gas for 20 years without knowing the numbers. There aren’t even signed contracts with the big three oil companies on the North Slope to sell the gas.

The summit will be a publicity exercise aimed at producing letters from Japan and Korea that the energy dominance council will claim are meaningful.

The energy dominance council consists of 19 or more top federal officials from the Trump administration. The council is supposed to tell Trump how to make America energy dominant, spread the word about energy dominance, create an energy dominance strategy, explain how the country will become energy dominant and get rid of regulations that interfere with dominance.

The Japan Times reported Thursday that South Korea's Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said he was not aware of a plan to announce a commitment to Alaska LNG, and that much work needs to be done "to understand the local situation more accurately."

The Japanese newspaper also reported that officials from Thailand and Korea are expected in Alaska in the next couple of weeks.

“Experts have also noted it may be difficult for South Korea to make any firm commitment on energy projects and defense costs under an acting president,” the Japan Times said.

It will also be difficult with an erratic president.

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