MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump traveled to the reddest part of the red state of Alaska to rally in support of a Republican senator facing a tough reelection campaign. Alaska Public Media's Liz Ruskin reports on his trip to Wasilla on Tuesday.
LIZ RUSKIN, BYLINE: The rally was held in a sports arena on the small side for a Trump rally. It holds 3,500 people. Trump talked about the many actions he's taken to advance drilling and mining on Alaska's federal lands. He told Alaskans that would be all over if Democrats are elected.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They will destroy it. They will terminate it. They'll terminate all the jobs, all the oil deals, all the - everything that we've made. We've done things - I've done more for this state than any other state in the union, and they'll repeal it immediately. So please...
RUSKIN: The president also claimed that he's brought oil prices down. It was an odd boast to make in an oil-producing state that thrives on high crude prices. Trump also gave onstage pardons to the owners of an Anchorage auto shop convicted of Clean Air Act violations for disabling pollution-control equipment on diesel vehicles. He urged the crowd to vote for Senator Dan Sullivan, a two-term Republican in a tight race. And he promoted Alaska's sole representative in the U.S. House.
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TRUMP: We don't have to be in certain places. Here, I have to be because we have to make sure that Dan gets in. We have to make sure that Nick Begich gets in.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And to be honest with you, we have to make sure that Bernadette Wilson becomes your governor.
(CHEERING)
RUSKIN: That last endorsement was new. Wilson is up against a Democrat and two fellow Republicans in November. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting in general elections. Trump called Sullivan up to speak. The senator praised Trump for undoing many of former President Biden's actions that he described as locking up Alaska. And he brought up the war with Iran.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAN SULLIVAN: The conflict in the Middle East is temporary. The true forever war is the national Democrats' war against Alaska, oil and gas and our jobs. That's the forever war.
RUSKIN: As he has at other rallies, the president promised a government payout if his party succeeds in the November election.
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TRUMP: If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate, I'm going to give all adult citizens in the United States $5,000.
(CHEERING)
RUSKIN: The proposal has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans. It's estimated to cost more than $1 trillion.
For NPR News, I'm Liz Ruskin in Wasilla.
(SOUNDBITE OF VALIUM AGGELEIN'S "BIRD WINGS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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