Dan Sullivan

GIRDWOOD, Alaska — Dan Sullivan isn’t running away from President Donald Trump like so many other vulnerable Republicans. He’s betting that walking the line instead will help him reap reelection in November. During a candidate debate, speaking at an economic forum and in an interview with Playbook this week, Sullivan repeatedly denied chances to put distance between himself and Trump’s most unpopular policies and positions. Has the economic pain from the war with Iran been worth it for Alaskans? “The real economic pain is when Democrats get control,” Sullivan told POLITICO, sitting in the shadow of a well-antlered taxidermy moose head, next to a roaring fire, at a ski resort tucked up in the mountains off the Turnagain Arm southeast of Anchorage. What about the $5,000 dividends Trump has promised voters if Republicans hold control of Congress, as he did at a rally for Sullivan in Wasilla on Tuesday? “I’ve got to look at the legislation. I don't know,” Sullivan said. “That was the first time I heard it from him, and I would just evaluate that if and when it happens.” Does he want to see data centers — which Trump has pushed for further development despite some pushback from local communities — pop up on Alaska’s undeveloped land? He’s not putting his foot down. “They definitely got to pay their own way in terms of energy,” Sullivan said. “They have to have local input and approval, and we’ll see.” Still, Sullivan bristled on some issues that touch closer to home. In light of Trump’s decision to import Russian diesel, did Sullivan think the Trump administration was being too friendly with Russia? “I thought you were asking me campaign stuff,” Sullivan replied. “Is this like a hit piece or what?” “I know my view on Russia. I'm very hawkish on Russia,” Sullivan continued, pointing to an op-ed he wrote during Trump's first administration about whether the president was too close with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I wrote an op-ed essentially saying, sometimes I don't agree with the rhetoric, but at the end of the day, what does Putin understand? He understands power. What's the ultimate source of power that the Russians fear? U.S. military power, which Republicans always build up, Democrats always cut.” Though his office put out a statement decrying the diesel move, Sullivan didn’t sign a bipartisan letter calling on the president to reverse the decision — which he said he never saw — and instead took his concerns straight to the White House. “I speak to the administration all the time on the issues of high energy costs,” Sullivan said. Art Hackney, a veteran Republican strategist in Alaska who runs a pro-Sullivan super PAC called “We Stand with Dan,” said in an interview that another part of the calculus is that Murkowski has provided a straightforward example of how Trump treats Republicans who publicly disagree with him. “If Dan did something considered a disrespectful trigger or something, what do you think would happen? It could well have im