Japan, S. Korea Eye Partnership on Alaska Gas Pipeline: Trump

During his address to a joint session of Congress, Trump described the pipeline as “one of the largest in the world,” adding that nations like Japan, South Korea, and others are eager to invest in the project. “They want to be our partners, with investments totaling trillions of dollars,” he said, though he provided few specifics on the timeline or scale of the endeavor. “It will be truly spectacular,” he added.

On Wednesday, South Korea's trade ministry confirmed that discussions about the pipeline are underway, though they noted the project is still in its early stages. Seoul’s trade minister, Ahn Duk-geun, who visited the U.S. last week, acknowledged that while the U.S. government is deeply interested in the venture, no formal agreements have been made. "We are actively engaged in talks, but nothing concrete has been decided yet regarding South Korea's involvement," a ministry official told AFP.

This comes after Trump mentioned in February that the U.S. and Japan were discussing a potential joint venture related to Alaska’s oil and gas resources. During a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Trump noted that Japan would soon be importing record quantities of U.S. natural gas.

In addition to the pipeline project, Trump also pledged on Tuesday to take significant action later this week to “dramatically expand production” of critical minerals and rare earth elements in the U.S. He reiterated his commitment to addressing inflation by “rapidly reducing the cost of energy” and declared that the U.S. would continue to “drill, baby, drill” to boost domestic oil production.