President Donald Trump said Wednesday that South Korea plans to invest about $54 billion in a natural gas project in Alaska, making the announcement from the Oval Office alongside Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is facing a competitive reelection race in the state.

Trump and Sullivan, a two-term senator and longtime supporter of the Alaska pipeline project, portrayed the investment as settled. South Korean officials, however, took a more cautious position, saying the project’s commercial viability must be assessed before any investment commitment is made.

The announcement marked the second time in three days that Trump has highlighted major development projects in states where Republican Senate candidates are facing competitive races, despite Trump having won those states comfortably in previous presidential elections.

On Monday, Trump made a similar announcement involving plans for a massive steel plant in Iowa.

South Korea’s participation in the Alaska project, which involves an 807-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline linking Alaska’s North Slope with a liquefied natural gas export terminal in the southern part of the state, “has not been finalized,” said Han Jeoungae, secretary-general of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s liberal Democratic Party.

She said she believed Trump’s comments were “intended to emphasize the U.S. position.”

“We will decide whether to invest in the Alaska LNG project only after thoroughly reviewing it in accordance with our domestic legal procedures and based on the principle of commercial viability,” she wrote on Facebook.

The South Korean government has likewise said the Alaska LNG project remains subject to review based on commercial viability and domestic legal procedures.

Trump and Alaska leaders in the Oval Office did not present the project as still pending. Trump praised Sullivan for advancing the project, saying, “He’s been working on this deal and other deals in Alaska, the pipeline, for almost 20 years, and we’re now getting it done.”

Sullivan thanked Trump and his Cabinet for their efforts on the project.

“Mr. President, this one is huge for Alaska,” Sullivan said, adding that he had been working on it “relentlessly.”

Sullivan’s Democratic challenger, former congresswoman Mary Peltola, also welcomed the project and Trump’s efforts to promote it.

In a statement, Peltola said she had participated in the bipartisan effort to bring the project “closer to reality” and looked forward to “continuing this bipartisan work with the President as Alaska’s next United States Senator.”

Trump takes campaign message on the road

Trump’s effort to promote major projects in states where Republican candidates could benefit comes as his approval ratings have fallen ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump himself has acknowledged that Republicans could face a difficult effort to retain control of both chambers of Congress after November.

“We have to turn this around,” he said Wednesday, suggesting that his administration has not done enough to publicize its accomplishments.

“I’ve done a very bad job of explaining,” Trump said earlier at an event in the White House East Room.

He has promised to spend much of the coming month on the road campaigning. He begins that effort Thursday with visits to Texas and Alabama, followed by Ohio on Saturday and Nebraska on Monday. All four states are traditionally solidly Republican.

Democrats target Alaska and Iowa

On Monday, Trump announced plans for a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa to be built by a Minnesota company owned by an Indian industrial conglomerate.

The announcement came as Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson faces a close Senate contest with Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek for the seat being vacated by retiring two-term Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. Hinson spoke in the Oval Office during Trump’s announcement.

Democrats need to gain a net four seats in the 100-member Senate to take control of the chamber, and the Iowa and Alaska races are among those they are targeting.

Trump’s announcements come as voters express concern over near-record fuel prices linked to the unresolved war with Iran, while Republicans who control Congress face voters dissatisfied with Trump’s handling of the economy.

In a late-July poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about one-third of Americans approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, while about seven in 10 described the economy as poor.