Alaskans full of hope for change at Trump inauguration

WASHINGTON — Nearly 1,000 Alaskans turned out among the crowds at President Donald Trump's inauguration Friday, among them a mix of hopeful longtime fans and reluctant Republicans who were looking on the bright side.

The bright side for many Alaskans attending the celebrations in Washington, D.C., in the past week was largely centered on hopes that the new administration would help foster more oil and natural gas production in the state.

And despite planned protests and the divisive nature of Trump's campaign rhetoric, several of Trump's Alaska supporters shared the belief that the new president would most certainly be a uniting force for the nation.

The congressional delegation's offices gave out nearly all of their allotted tickets, according to staff for Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young. The total number of tickets fell under 1,000 — including staffers and other Alaskans in Washington, or people with some other connection to the state (perhaps military), and at least two reporters, one of them from Alaska Dispatch News. Congressional offices were given 250,000 tickets to distribute and the remainder of the National Mall was open to the public, as is customary.

Quite a few prominent Alaska Republicans were less than enthusiastic about Trump before he won the election in November. Both Murkowski and Sullivan announced plans to write in alternative candidates after a tape emerged of Trump describing his penchant for grabbing women by their genitals.

But they are now hopeful that the newly installed president will be a boon to Alaska's resource industries — oil, gas and timber, especially.

[Republicans step up push for Arctic drilling in wildlife refuge]

"I'd like to see our state opened up for responsible resource development," said independent Gov. Bill Walker at an Alaska inaugural party Thursday night.

Walker never would say who he was voting for during the election — hardly a ringing endorsement of the now-president. But he says he has no worries now.

"Well, look, I am excited about the opportunities that Alaska has with the new administration. It's not just Trump," but his Cabinet appointees, Walker said.

Young too said he was pleased with Trump's appointees.

"I'm very excited at the point that they're all successful. Other than the secretary of education (nominee), they all earned their money. And that means a lot to me — they're not inherited millionaires, other than (Betsy) DeVos," he said.

"And I don't think you're going to see the president mini-managing the program. I think you're going to see him let the Cabinet members run his agenda. … And he'll allow them the latitude to get things done."

Walker was particularly pleased with former Exxon chief Rex Tillerson, nominated for secretary of state, and former Govs. Rick Perry, R-Texas, and Sonny Perdue, R-Georgia, nominated to head the departments of Energy and Agriculture, respectively.

Similarly, former Republican Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell wasn't quite sold on Trump during the election, but said he's hopeful that the new administration will have offerings for Alaska, particularly in terms of allowing and encouraging more offshore drilling.

Treadwell was in town Thursday night for a reception held by Young, and other events, but he wasn't planning to go to the actual inaugural ceremony.

Trump's win "was such a stunning victory and a reversal of fortunes that we had already made family plans to be in another part of the country this weekend. So I'm going to take off tomorrow morning, go see some clients and watch the rest of the inaugural on television," Treadwell said. He has been present at six prior inaugurations — Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan (twice), George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, he said.

Treadwell said he thinks the Trump administration will be "sympathetic" to the desire to export more goods — particularly oil and gas — to Asia.

And "I'm willing to take the fight to the administration to tell them if we don't pay attention to Alaska as an Arctic nation, Russians, we already know Russians are going to be shipping LNG right past us through the Bering Strait, waving" as they pass.

Treadwell said he's not concerned about the message getting through to the administration.

"I consider Russia a friendly competitor. This is the 150th anniversary of buying Russia. I can still see Russia from my house because my house was once in Russia. … And the point of it is, we've got to figure out how to be good neighbors."

[Trump inaugural speech was a sharp break with the past, and with his party]

Former Alaska state Sen. Lesil McGuire of Anchorage also came to celebrate the inauguration, and like Treadwell, she wasn't an overt Trump backer during the election (though both were on a list of supporters distributed by the Trump campaign in Alaska last May).

McGuire said she had told people: "I'm not here supporting Trump as a human being; I'm here supporting the transfer of power that's peaceful and democratic. And I'm grateful for that."

During the election, "I didn't come out for either candidate. But the comments (Trump) had made about women were very offensive to me. And I aligned with Lisa and other female leaders in the community to denounce that," she said, noting that it would have been nice to see a woman president.

McGuire said she does worry about the message it sends that Trump became president despite some of the things he said about women.

Her "sincere hope is that he would be the first president" to appoint a Cabinet member dedicated to "women's affairs," McGuire said, citing a long Scandinavian tradition.

"I hope… that he spends more time understanding that his words are powerful, and they will send a message that defines our culture," McGuire said.

Kathy Hosford, who was a Trump delegate at the Republican National Convention, was thrilled to be in Washington for the president's inauguration and had high hopes about what he could accomplish.

Trump is "going to take us to a place where we can all come together again. I really believe that with all my heart," Hosford said.

Hosford said she is impressed with Trump's work ethic and his children.

"And one thing everybody has to remember … Trump won in the red areas, which is the majority of the whole United States, right? I'm in that red area. That's what people forgot to look, was who was living out in the woods that really made this happen for us."

Alaska musher Scott Janssen arrived in Washington, D.C., with his dog Thunder in advance of the inauguration at the request of organizations sponsoring Alaska's inauguration-eve party in Washington.

Janssen said he hoped that with Trump's election, the country would become less divided.

"Because as Americans, we can get a team together that can help everybody else in the world, and bring ourselves together and help our country," he said.

Janssen said that — like Trump — he's a businessman who can sometimes say things in an abrupt way "that might offend people." But he's hoping Trump will bring economic growth and help small businesses succeed, with tax breaks and other opportunities.

"The biggest thing I want him to accomplish is to show the Americans that he's in it for us … I believe he's a real American and he's in it to help us all," Janssen said.