ALASKA TIME WITH THE PREZ: Alaska has a slot on today’s calendar for President Donald Trump. At noon Alaska time, the president will meet with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, and Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. The meeting came at the request of the White House, Must Read Alaska has been advised by DC sources.
The appointment that follows on the president’s calendar is at 1:05 pm Alaska time. Trump will meet with conservative leaders on the topic of health care before dining with Sen. Ted Cruz and Mrs. Cruz.
Last week, Gov. Bill Walker sent a letter to the president requesting a meeting. He had asked the delegation to sign it, but there was no action, and no meeting scheduled to include Walker.
The governor asked to make his Alaska Gasline Project the centerpiece of the meeting. It’s a safe bet, however, that the gasline will not be front and center at today’s meeting, according to sources close to the delegation. Walker had a close relationship with the Obama Administration, flying with the former president to Alaska on Air Force One to show him the state and talk to him about the gasline.
The meeting with the senators will more likely touch on the seriousness of Alaska’s recession, due in no small part to the actions of the last president and his Interior Secretary Sally Jewel.
Opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to greater oil exploration may not be front and center, because that will take action from Congress, not the president. However, the many agencies within the Department of Interior that touch Alaska are probably on the agenda.
The King Cove to Cold Bay Road will almost certainly be discussed, we’ve learned.
“This is an opportunity for the DC delegation to make it loud and clear that Obama and Jewell were a reign of terror economically for Alaska, and now we can turn the corner and rebuild our economy,” a DC source told us.
