Trump again claims joint venture with Japan on Alaska LNG, but don't believe it
Among his litany of lies Tuesday about elections and immigrants and gas prices, Donald Trump again boasted that the Japanese are ready to spend tens of billions to build the Alaska LNG pipeline.
Speaking to cheering House Republicans, he claimed at the White House that Japan is “forming a joint venture with us at, in Alaska, as you know for the LNG.”
“They’re all set to make that deal now so I think it’s good.”
“We’re gonna make a deal with Japan on the LNG in Alaska,” Trump claimed.
If you believed Trump about Mexico paying for his wall or if you signed up to buy a Trump phone or Trump cologne, his talk about the gas pipeline might sound plausible. For everyone else, consider the source.
The joint venture is as real as his bogus claim Tuesday that “I just signed the largest trade deal in history,” setting a 15 percent tariff on Japanese imports.
His rambling speech, delivered to an audience that included many of the leading Trump sycophants, was part of a desperate attempt to get people to stop talking about Trump’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
As Reuters reported after Trump’s claim about the alleged joint venture, “a Japanese government official said he was not aware of such plans.”
In February, Trump first claimed that Japan was ready to sign onto a joint venture for Alaska LNG.
There was no joint venture. There still is no joint venture. There is no sign of a joint venture. And there won’t be a joint venture without a miracle. Make the project so profitable that Japan will be unable to resist and the joint venture will become a reality.
The important thing to understand is that Trump talking about the gas pipeline doesn’t mean it will happen.
Japan and other nations will promise to study a pipeline, say nice things about a pipeline, praise Trump’s wisdom in promoting a pipeline, claim they would love to be in a joint venture and promise to invest if a pipeline turns out to make economic sense.
The political leaders of those nations, and more importantly, the business leaders of those nations, have had plenty of time to take the full measure of Trump’s soft spots.
They will call him sir, marvel at his strength and never give him a definite no.
They know about Trump Always Chickens Out and that he comes off like Cliff Clavin from Cheers deposited in the White House. They will not call him out or challenge his grasp of economics. They know they can’t trust him, but he won’t be around forever. They will humor him and drag things out.
The companies in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other nations will be asked to put $50 billion or more on the line for 30 years or so, a decision that will not be dictated by Trump or the desires of people in Alaska.
“A senior administration official told Bloomberg News that support for the Alaska LNG venture could come from a $550 billion Japanese-backed investment fund for projects in America,” Bloomberg said, though no details have been worked out.
“It also isn’t certain that any agreement between the US and Japan will be enough for Alaska LNG to move forward, especially as the project still lacks concrete sales agreements,” Bloomberg reported.
I’ve said here before that the chances of a pipeline getting built are actually decreased by Trump’s clumsy mob boss tactics, which add extra chaos and uncertainty. Trump is giving Asian nations and companies more reasons to be skeptical of the merits of the Alaska project.
In March, Trump lied to the nation that Japan, South Korea and other nations want to “be our partner with investments of trillions of dollars each” for an Alaska natural gas pipeline.
There are no promises from Japan, South Korea and other nations to invest trillions, billions, millions or even spare change in an Alaska natural gas pipeline that would probably need $50 billion or $60 billion to become a reality.
“President Trump’s support for AKLNG will ensure this massive LNG project is completed, and clean Alaska gas supplies our Asian allies and our Alaskan residents for decades to come!” Gov. Mike Dunleavy claimed.
Sullivan claimed “the stars are aligned like never before for the @AlaskaLNG project—a decades-long energy dream for Alaska.”
In April, Trump claimed that South Korea was already in a joint venture for the pipeline.
The Associated Press reported: “The Alaska LNG project is widely considered uneconomic. Both coal and renewable energy in Asia are so much cheaper that U.S. gas would need to cost less than half its current price to compete. Tariffs on Chinese steel could make building building gas pipelines and LNG terminals more expensive, while longstanding delays to build new gas turbines mean new gas power projects may not come online until 2032.”
All of the reporting on the so-called Trump deals in the months since “Liberation Day” says that the deals are really outlines of agreements that have not been completed, contrary to Trump’s claims.
SEN. FORREST DUNBAR: Gov. Mike Dunleavy has asked Republicans to stay away from the August special session he has called on education. One reason he scheduled it this summer is because Anchorage Sen. Forrest Dunbar is deployed overseas with the Alaska Army National Guard. Dunbar said Tuesday his commanding officer has granted his request to travel to Juneau to participate in the special session.
Dunbar said he will be voting to override Dunleavy’s veto of funds for education “so that our students have the funds that they need to avoid catastrophic cuts for their schools.”
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