Since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Alaska has seen a steady inflow of top-level administration officials, underscoring the state’s central role in the White House’s energy, security, and economic agenda. Much of it can be credited to US Sen. Dan Sullivan, who won commitments from the cabinet members when they were still nominees.
On his first day in office, Trump signed executive orders to lift what he called the “onerous lockdowns” of the Biden Administration, opening the door for expanded energy development, including oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). From Day One, he singled out Alaska for special emphasis.
In early June, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin traveled north for a multi-day tour. They joined a high-level roundtable with energy stakeholders in Anchorage, toured the Trans-Alaska Pipeline at Prudhoe Bay, visited Utqiagvik (Barrow), and spoke at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s sustainable energy conference.
Burgum pushed for faster permitting and new exploration on federal lands. Wright focused on boosting oil production and reviving the long-stalled Alaska LNG project. Zeldin championed regulatory rollbacks to speed North Slope development.
In March, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Kodiak to brush up on security challenges on the Alaska front.
In April, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll traveled to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) and Fort Greely, participating in a simulated casualty recovery exercise with 11th Airborne Division soldiers at the Black Rapids Training Site.
In May, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan “Raisin’” Cain visited Alaska at the invitation of Sen. Dan Sullivan, who routinely presses nominees to commit to visiting the 49th state. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink visited JBER in July.
August brought multiple high-profile arrivals: Acting Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday attended the commissioning of the USS Coast Guard icebreaker Storis in Juneau and the Coast Guard Cutter Cunningham in Kodiak; Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar joined the Storis commissioning in Juneau.
Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was in Alaska for meetings on tribal sovereignty, Medicaid rules, and vaccine policy.
This week, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy arrived for meetings with state and local leaders. Turner traveled to Bethel to discuss affordable housing initiatives in rural and Native communities, while Duffy toured the Don Young Port of Alaska and spotlighted infrastructure projects, including port upgrades and highway improvements tied to energy exports.
Totaling them up, the list of presidential cabinet members is historic in nature, never before seen in Alaska in such a compressed timeframe.
All of these visits set the stage for Trump’s own arrival on Aug. 15, when he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at JBER for a summit on Ukraine peace talks — the highest-profile political meeting in Alaska in decades.
The administration’s sustained presence makes one thing clear: Under Trump, Alaska is no longer a fuel-stop state for cabinet members traveling abroad, but a front-line player in the push for American energy dominance and national security.
Super, did they bring stretchers to clean up the street tourists?
Peace through strength!
Time to take the paper-doll leftists and put them into a shoebox and throw them back into the closet where they belong.
We have had a taste of weakness in the chairs of leadership. So scared of the cold and flu they would lock down the healthy to pander to the weak. Time for the strong to take us forward!
So good to see Alaska opened for business again. The attack by Biden and handlers on day one is unforgivable. Now we need to stop the frivolous lawsuits from out of state NGOs blocking our fishing industry. They’re well funded and headed by retired attorneys with lots of time on their hands.
Noem is a turd with a fancy watch.
And Duffy…sorry, but all I think about when I see him is Road Rules.
You got that right! And dog killer.
Noem is a very intelligent good person. So f—- you Liz.
Two words: habeas corpus
spot on
You seem nice.
Tamra generally Left wingers make want to puke.
Liz is a turd Democrat. She even knows it because our country is overrun with illegals brought in by Biden. But Liz can’t admit she’s a turd because her brain is overfraught with a cesspool of crap produced by years of brainwashing. She can’t reason independently, or at all, because her thinking process is now catagorically disfunctional. This is how Democrats teach their kids. No thinking involved.
But I have no fancy watch to prove my turd-ness…
Guess it loops back to Noem.
Peace through strength but not habeas corpus.
I must say, it’s quite a difference from the Biden oppressing administration. He definitely treated us like we were his gas station all while making it more difficult for us to have that gas.
All the “big hitters” are still missing the most important points of total life in Alaska and running to all the spots others dictate. They might as well say they are tourists on the move. All this is just a lot of “hot air, passing through the political windmills of time.” Nothing more, and time will prove that thought.
I’d be more impressed with these visits if they didn’t only seem to happen in the Summer.
Oh Stakeholders. Please stop using the Marxist lingo. This is there way of saying these people are our Betters! They are not, Mostly greedy type that only love themselves and Money.
Nicely done Suzanne! Your chronology exemplifies what real leadership looks like & what its capable of achieving.
Nice to see Alaska in the mix this time around from an energy/resource development standpoint as well as from a strategic & military perspective.
God how I love the winning!!
Not cool trading Alaska for Ukraine but Z will probably be happy… ***
Notice they all came up during fishing.
Probably spent a lot of our tax dollars on fancy guides and went home with our fish.
Come back when it’s 10 below and blowing 25 mph!
Biden did send DHHS secretary Rachel (Richard) Levine to Barrow to greet a handful of pacific islanders at the college as Pothole Pete was trolling the interior checking for potholes on the road system.
Lisa and her sister Deb Haaland also delivered the sad news to the folks in King Cove they couldnt build a road to the airstrip for life saving medivac flights.
No wonder Alaska voted for DJT.
Thankfully Joe never had the guts to make a showing….the streets of Anchorage are dirty enough.
You’ve got Biden Derangement Syndrome.
Suzanne your news is ruined by left wing communist commenters.
Be a good sport, Doug. They are fun to read. – sd
Suzanne makes a good point. Argumentation and counterpoints require understanding the logic of the enemy, even when there isn’t any logic produced. This is how TDS gets passed on. For example, look at radical lefty Dermot Cole’s writings and comments. Cole doesn’t allow opposition and screens his comments for political opposition. That and a bottle of whiskey takes care of any debate and disagreement. And apparently, all you get left with are the same old friends and a miserable hangover.
Leftist trolls make for a much wanted increase in engagement clicks. The more they cry, cope and seethe, the more money that flows into the piggy bank. Thanks deranged leftoids!
How many of the visitors used a honey bucket while visiting AK?
Good. I hope they caught the drift of the real Alaskan ambiance. Impenetrable or the precipice.