Trump Is Bringing Big Projects To Red States. Republicans Fear They’re Too Late.

It’s finally infrastructure week. President Donald Trump is announcing major transportation, energy and manufacturing projects and promising thousands of jobs in states with vulnerable Republicans.

GOP strategists who know those states best fear it’s all too little, too late.

The projects — which include a $50 billion natural gas pipeline in Alaska, a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa and a $3.2 billion bridge project the president is expected to tout in Alabama — are earning bipartisan plaudits, and could prove an economic boon to the states, should they come to fruition.

But the earliest any of those projects would be online is 2030. And while GOP strategists welcome the move in a cycle where Republicans are desperate for any good news to campaign on, they’re skeptical that the efforts will move the needle with gas above $4.40 per gallon and mortgage rates near 7.5%.

"Whether it's a new Alaska pipeline or this steel mill here in Iowa, these are fantastic projects but politically there is a tight timeline to leverage them,” said Iowa GOP strategist Luke Martz.

With few options to quickly lower prices, the White House is hoping that promises of better days ahead will give voters — especially in red states primed to love Trump — a reason to keep the GOP in power.

The announcements come as Trump faces a map where “the fires are everywhere,” and Democrats are competitive in states such as Alaska, Iowa and Kansas, all of which voted for Trump by double-digit margins in 2024. With only four weeks until the election and early voting already underway in many states, there just isn’t that much time to change voter sentiment that has been souring for months.

“These are announcements,” said one former Trump official. “They make great headlines but it doesn’t drop the inflation rate or fuel prices.”

The Trump administration’s press release notes that the Iowa project is expected to generate $95 billion in economic impact during construction and its first 10 years of operation, and create at least 5,000 construction jobs and 1,750 permanent jobs.

The Alaska project, meanwhile, is expected to yield $25 billion in state and local revenue and create 12,000 construction jobs and 1,300 permanent jobs, administration officials say.

“The President will continue working around the clock to deliver tangible wins for families, businesses, and local communities,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.

And Republicans are positioning themselves as the pro-business, pro-growth party with the ability to deliver these kinds of middle-class jobs across the country.

“If Democrats take control, businesses will flee and all of these investments will be ripped away,” said RNC spokesperson Natalie Baldasarre.

The RNC and others have argued the GOP knew they'd be battling a wider map this year, but travel plans from Trump and Vice President JD Vance this week hitting less-than-traditional battlegrounds — including Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas and Florida — underscore how dire the situation has become.

Diesel prices, which hit $6.53 Thursday, according to AAA, are of particular concern in the Midwest, where farmers already squeezed by tariffs are seeing profits plummet. And even a quarter of self-identified MAGA Republicans conceded that expenses have become more unaffordable since Trump took office, according to the latest POLITICO poll.

Counter to form, the president has used the announcement not to tout himself and his accomplishments but to heap praise on vulnerable candidates including Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for Senate, and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan. Trump, on Wednesday, heaped praise on Sullivan as polls show former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola within the margin of error, arguing the project would not have been possible without his persistent advocacy.

“This is a great senator who is totally responsible for this pipeline,” Trump said in the Oval Office as Sullivan stood behind him. “He’s running for office. He’s a spectacular senator not just for Alaska, he’s great for the world, for our country and the world. What he’s done is so important, and he’s got my ear, and he’s had my ear for a long time on Alaska.”

One Republican close to the White House, who has previously been critical of the administration’s midterm messaging, said Trump was “pitch perfect.” These projects highlight what a Republican representative can bring home, the person said, and Trump, in the Oval, reinforced that point.

“If you're covering this in Anchorage or Juneau, you're running those remarks, which is: Dan Sullivan got this done,” the person said. “That’s not normally the script.”

The person added that the announcements may only provide a modest boost in both states but “that’s all you need.”

Yet some Republicans fear that positive news cycles in their states will be quickly subsumed by other news — or potentially tarnished by the Trump brand. The president’s approval rating is at near-record lows, with his daily average rating hovering around 37% as of Thursday.

Longtime Alaska GOP strategist Art Hackney said the Oval Office appearance “went well” but said it’s “TBD” whether it will help Sullivan. South Korea has already denied that it agreed to the pipeline investment — only that the countries had agreed to start a review of a potential pipeline deal.

“It was great political theater and the people who support Sullivan are excited and the people who oppose him are saying the emperor has no clothes,” Hackney said. “Depends what occurs in the next few weeks.”

Trump is scheduled to travel on Friday to Alabama where Gov. Kay Ivey plans to host a groundbreaking for the Mobile River Bridge Project, which she touts as an example of how the Trump administration has delivered on its promises.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is expected to appear with Ivey to herald the project, meant to ease congestion in the I-10 corridor between Mobile and Pensacola.

“This major infrastructure investment in Alabama’s Gulf Coast will make monumental improvements for travel and commerce across the region,” Ivey said in a statement to POLITICO. “Thank you, again, to the Trump Administration for investing in our state. Alabama is proud to be part of the Golden Age of Transportation.”