A tale of two legacies

Gov. Mike Dunleavy provides an update on the Alaska LNG project on May 4, 2026. (Screenshot from livestream by the Alaska Office of the Governor)

By Rich Moniak

The Alaska LNG project “is closer to reality than ever,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said during his State of the State speech in January. “We have so much wind at our backs,” including “the full support of the White House and President Trump’s Cabinet.”

Now he wants us to believe those winds are hitting a brick wall of exorbitant property taxes. And the project won’t be viable unless it gets torn down.

Dermot Cole has thoroughly documented that until recently not a single state official promoting the project thought property taxes were a problem. Glenfarne, the private energy developer leading the way, didn’t either.

Dunleavy’s reference to Trump should have been a clue he was just blowing smoke. They both treat facts as inconveniences to be ignored and are legendary for wildly exaggerating their actions and accomplishments.

For instance, three years ago, Dunleavy introduced a carbon offset bill that he said could produce new revenue of up to “$30 billion or more over 20 years.” The legislature gave him a token bill to sign. Then the idea essentially vanished into thin air.

Building a new ferry terminal at Cascade Point was another poorly conceived idea. If he were interested in improving ferry traffic up and down Lynn Canal, he wouldn’t have gotten rid of the three ferries that used to sail the route.

Dunleavy wanted construction of the terminal to start before he leaves office for the same reason he’s pushing the LNG project now. After seven years as governor, he has precious little to show in terms of legislative accomplishments. And history won’t look kindly on how he neglected the state’s chronic budget problem.

He also doesn’t deserve credit for overseeing “six straight years of job growth” that was largely aided by the boost in federal funding. For “an economy that’s more diversified than ever,” when very little has changed. Or a “growing population” when more people are leaving Alaska than moving here.

In fact, Dunleavy’s biggest success has nothing to do with actual governance. He was the first sitting governor to be reelected in 20 years.

Trump will carry a different reelection distinction into the history books. He’s only the second president to win a second term after being voted out of office four years earlier.

This term, Trump did get to sign one major piece of legislation. But it turns out the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill is so unpopular he’s trying to rebrand it. In any case, that single act pales in comparison to his 250-plus executive orders, many of which could have been produced by George Orwell’s fictional Ministry of Truth.

Vanity will be another black mark on his legacy. Like no other president before him, he’s added his name to government buildings and programs, and a future fleet of U.S. naval warships. Banners with his image are hanging on the Department of Justice and Agriculture offices. His face is now on some passports and National Park passes.

There’s not enough space here to get into what Megyn Kelly called a shocking level of “self-dealing” to line “his and his family’s pockets.” 

Still, all that may be overshadowed by two really stupid decisions he made.

The first was what the Wall Street Journal dubbed the “dumbest trade war ever.” Trump imposed an inflationary regime of tariffs under the mistaken belief that the cost would be borne by the exporters in other countries.

The other is relentless effort to portray himself as the peace president, which he thoroughly destroyed by starting an ill-advised war with Iran under the incredibly naïve notion it might replicate the instant success of the Venezuela mission two months earlier.

But mostly he’ll be remembered for his refusal to accept losing the 2020 election. And if congressional Republicans let him get away with it, for the anti-weaponization slush fund set up to reward the people he fooled into attacking the Capitol two months later.

Trump’s record of abuses does have a silver lining for Dunleavy. It’ll turn his eight years of mediocrity and incompetence into a minor footnote in the demise of American democracy.

Hopefully, the legacies of our next governor and president will be earned by honesty, humility, and hard work.

• Rich Moniak is a Juneau resident and retired civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience working in the public sector.