Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Donald Trump’s transition team have discussed the prospect of him becoming the next secretary of the interior, three sources familiar with the conversations told NOTUS.
Trump and Dunleavy have a strong relationship dating back to 2018, when he first ran for governor. The then-president endorsed Dunleavy when he was facing a recall in 2019 and when he was up for reelection in 2022. The Alaska governor was an early endorser of Trump in August of 2023, when Trump was facing a full GOP primary field.
But it’s not just Trump and Dunleavy who are close; the Alaska governor also has a strong relationship with Linda McMahon, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, the three sources told NOTUS. At Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally last month, Dunleavy spent the majority of his time in a private box with McMahon.
Since Trump won the election, the transition team has courted Dunleavy and discussed the interior secretary position, the three sources said. One of the sources also noted that Trump and Dunleavy talk regularly.
As with most things in Trumpworld, nothing is final until it comes out of Trump’s mouth — and even then it can change.
“President-Elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration soon. Those decisions will be announced when they are made,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump, said in a recycled statement to NOTUS.
Jeff Turner, a spokesperson for Dunleavy, said in a statement, “The Governor has spoken on this many times.” He directed NOTUS to two interviews with a local television station, KTUU, on Wednesday.
When asked if he’s entertaining any positions in a Trump administration or if he’d been approached by the president-elect, Dunleavy said in one interview he hadn’t talked with Trump “about any positions in Washington.”
“Will there be discussions about potential positions in Washington?” he added. “There may be. But I’ve got two years left in my term.”
It’s no secret in Alaska, however, that Dunleavy has had an eye on a Trump cabinet appointment. In an Alaska Beacon story on Monday, one state senator called it “the worst-kept secret in Juneau.”
Dunleavy would be an eager partner to Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” approach to resource development. During Trump’s first administration, the two men worked to roll back the so-called “roadless rule,” a controversial policy that exempted more than 9 million acres of Tongass National Forest from development. They also pursued oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and permitting the 200-mile Ambler Road through northwest Alaska to access mining.
Most recently, Dunleavy posted a video message from Trump on X where the president-elect vowed to build the $38 billion Alaska liquefied natural gas export project.
“We will ensure the gas line project gets built to provide affordable energy to Alaska and allies all over the world,” Trump said in the message.
For his part, Dunleavy said last week that Trump “sees Alaska’s oil resources, our gas resources, our mining resources, our timber resources, our location on the globe, our military, as assets not just for Alaska, but as solutions to the country’s problems.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma is also being considered for interior secretary, NOTUS reported on Monday, and the transition team is also considering Mullin for secretary of veterans affairs.
Trump has started making appointments to his incoming administration, with the president-elect announcing on Monday alone that he wants Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former Rep. Lee Zeldin to take the reins of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump has previously appointed Susie Wiles as his incoming chief of staff, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan as the border czar, and CNN reported on Monday that hard-line anti-immigration activist Stephen Miller would serve as the new White House deputy chief of staff.
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Reese Gorman and Riley Rogerson are reporters at NOTUS.