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Aug. 16, 2025 - Sean Hannity Show
34:12
Best of Hannity: Live from Alaska: Energy, Geography & the Summit Stage - August 16th, Hour 3
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Here's our toll-free telephone number.
It's 800-941-Sean.
If you want to be a part of the program, as we come to you, we are in Anchorage.
We are in Alaska.
We are here for President Trump's summit with Vladimir Putin.
So much, so many fun facts when it comes to Alaska.
It's 591,000 square miles, twice the size of Texas, home of all three species of North American bears, black bears, grizzly bears, polar bears.
I think I prefer if I have to pick one, the black bear.
Anyway, and then you look at the history of when it was purchased.
It's really fascinating.
It was purchased by the United States from Russia on March 30th, 1967.
And a fun fact about this, Alaska, you know, this purchase was to offset the debt of their current war.
This had to do with the struggling with debt that was accrued during the disastrous Crimean War.
How ironic.
This is where we are today.
On October 18th, 1867, the U.S. purchased Alaska for two cents an acre.
And then the person responded, this guy Seward, you know, was mocked for it.
Ends up being one of the greatest deals ever in the history of real estate, probably the greatest deal, considering all the natural resources that are in this great state.
And it has officially the lowest population density in the nation.
Its constitution was adopted in 1956, became effective in 1959.
It became the 49th state.
It has 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the U.S. They're all located here in Alaska.
And, you know, I can just keep going, but I mean, its natural resources are second to none.
I've yet to try the reindeer.
I noticed when I went to a great, great breakfast place this morning, they had reindeer on the menu.
I looked at it, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it.
Anyway, joining us now is the great governor of the great state of Alaska, Governor Mike Dunlevy, is with us.
Sir, how are you?
I'm sure you're excited and the people of Alaska here are excited about having the summit in your home state.
Oh, absolutely.
All eyes are in Alaska, Sean.
And you really should try the reindeer.
It's actually pretty good.
So anyway, welcome to the great state of Alaska.
All right.
So tell me, what's the difference between beef and reindeer?
Well, I mean, there's a slight difference, right?
But I think what you'd be looking at is reindeer sausage, which a lot of us have for breakfast in Alaska.
It tastes really good, actually.
And the best thing to do is just give it a shot yourself, and you could be the expert on the airwaves as to how good Alaska reindeer is.
I bet you it's better than any other reindeer in the country, Sean.
Listen, I'm not afraid to try anything.
I'll do anything.
Now that you've given me that challenge, before I leave Alaska, I'm definitely going to try it.
Have you talked to the president about the summit?
Just briefly talk to his people.
We're going to get together briefly early in the morning.
And my focus is going to be mostly on what's happening here in Alaska, the things that he's helping us with, including the large national gas line and our work on ANWAR, NPRA, critical minerals, that sort of thing.
And I'm just going to wish him nothing but the best and that Alaska is here to help.
And the red carpet will be rolled out for anybody that wants to work with the president and secure some great peace initiatives in the world.
You know, look, the only downside to Alaska that I see, and I live in the warm, free state of Florida, is the weather.
Although the weather in Anchorage is really not that bad.
I mean, I have the annual temperatures.
It's really, you know, overall, for example, in January, February, the low is 14, 17, and 20 if you go into March, and the high is 25, 29, 35.
And it's, you know, on a yearly basis, you know, the average temperature, high temperature is 46.
That's a little bit cold for me, but it doesn't seem to bother anybody here.
No, you know, Alaska is a very interesting state.
And for example, in the wintertime, you could be in Juneau, where in a January day, it could be 45 degrees above zero.
The same day in Anchorage, it could be 20 degrees above zero.
And the same day in Fairbanks, Alaska, it could be 60 degrees below zero.
It's a big state, lots of climates, lots of areas.
But, you know, I came up in 83 from Pennsylvania, Sean, and I never look back.
It's just been a great state.
I'd have to live eight lifetimes to see everything and do everything in this large, terrific, unique state.
And so I would say the cold doesn't bother most Alaskans, that's for sure.
When you look at, for example, more fun facts, Alaska has over 3,000 rivers, 3 million lakes.
It has an estimated 100,000 glaciers, more than 100 volcanoes.
In terms of wildlife, it's the most diverse by far in the entire country.
Then you have the phenomenon of northern lights, which from everything that I have heard and everything I've seen on television is amazing.
And, you know, Alaska does hold the record for the lowest recorded temperature, which is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
I've been telling this audience, I've been obsessed with the state of Alaska.
Now, I've been to all the other 49 states.
This is the last state that I had to get to.
And it took the summit to get me here.
But now that I'm here, I'm thinking maybe next summer when you're in your warmer part of the mid-60s, which is considered cold in Florida, that I would like to come back and really enjoy the outdoors here because there's so much to do.
Well, we'd love for you to come back.
And Sean, what's also interesting is the highest recorded temperature in Hawaii is 100 degrees.
So it's pretty hot.
The highest recorded temperature in Alaska is also 100 degrees.
We've gotten into the 90s and summers up here.
80s are not unheard of, usually 70s, but we have the same high temperature record as Hawaii, which a lot of people find interesting.
It's also, you know, I always tell people this.
You know, we're an Arctic state.
We're a Western Pacific state.
And our placement on the globe is fascinating.
We're 1,000 miles closer to California, excuse me, to Australia than California is.
It's kind of a mind-bender for people.
We used to have four time zones in this large state.
That actually is a mind-bend.
I wouldn't have thought that because most people that I know that have traveled to either New Zealand or Australia, they usually go through California.
Well, yeah, because you're going to have volume in terms of passenger traffic.
But we have direct flights, for example, from Anchorage to Hawaii of five hours, and then you can hop from Hawaii to almost anywhere else in the Pacific.
But our distance on the globe is very unique.
We're nine hours to every industrialized place in the Northern Hemisphere.
We are two hours closer to Moscow than Moscow is to Washington, D.C.
And I think that's one of the reasons why they put this summit here.
But our position on the globe is second to none.
We're at the center of the world.
Yeah, I would not be shocked if Vladimir Putin brings up, any chance you want to sell us Alaska back?
If I was him, I'd want it back for sure.
Let me ask you this question because I think this is pretty amazing.
I have been obsessed with all these shows.
I've been saying it all day on this program, like Life Below Zero.
And I watch shows, you know, The Deadliest Catch.
I don't know if you've watched that.
Mike Rowe narrates that show, and he's a friend of mine.
And what I find so amazing about this, the fact that people live in the most dire conditions in the wintertime, and they're living off the grid, and there's no help anywhere, you know, with, you know, hundreds of miles away.
And there are a lot of people that live that way and live that way successfully.
I'm in awe of what they are able to do, accomplish, survive, and they love that way of life.
I'm just fascinated at how they pull off all the challenges they face every day.
Well, you know, it's a unique state, and I'd say there's unique people here, a lot of unique people.
I spent almost 20 years.
If you think there are unique people here, let me tell you, it's nothing compared to New York.
There are some very unique people in New York City, very unique people in our nation's capital, D.C., but that's another story for another day.
Yeah, that's a different type of unique, Sean.
We can talk about that for some time.
I think that's one way to put it for sure.
No, but what I was going to say was I spent almost 20 years in rural Alaska, as we call it, which some people would say is in the middle of nowhere out in northwestern Alaska.
And I just enjoy that so much.
I mean, it holds some great, great memories for myself.
But, you know, a lot of those folks you see on those shows, I mean, a lot of Alaskans know those folks.
So for the most part, they're real Alaskans.
And it does give an insight, I think, to the rest of the country of how unique Alaska is.
And yeah, you do have to know what you're doing up here.
You can get yourself in trouble.
But we all enjoy those shows, Sean.
The other thing that I'd love about your state is the fact that there's no state income tax.
You don't even have a sales tax, I don't think, here.
You certainly don't have a state estate tax.
And you actually pay full-time residents money because you share in the wealth of resources, which is the revenue that the state takes in.
What do you take in usually on an annual basis?
And how much, what is the average check that you'll cut the average Alaskan every year?
So you're talking about our permanent fund, which is also unique to Alaska.
Its value right now is about $84 billion with a B.
So it makes us the second largest sovereign wealth fund in the world after Norway per capita because of our small population.
Every year there's a calculation to deliver a permanent fund dividend check, as we call it, to about 670,000 eligible Alaskans.
The highest dividend that was cut in recent years was just a few years ago of $3,200 a person.
And this past year, it's roughly $1,000, a little more than $1,000 per person.
But again, it's a combination of calculated by a formula, but also appropriation consent by the legislature.
And so there is no income tax.
You're absolutely right.
And currently we don't have a statewide sales tax, and we do distribute a dividend.
So again, another aspect that makes the state unique and something that the people of Alaska truly, truly love is the permanent fund for obvious reasons.
So what do you have to do to qualify for that?
If I moved to Alaska, how soon would it be before you guys started cutting me a check?
By the way, I'm doing more for tourism right now.
I should get a percentage of that.
Well, you know.
We're on 760 stations now around the country, and I'm creating a huge demand for visitors to come to this great state.
You're doing a great job, Sean.
We'd like to have you actually and actually run your show out of Alaska because I think you would do a great job in putting us on the spotlight.
But one year to be eligible for the permanent fund dividend, and you'd have to sell out an application like everyone else does.
But we would love to give you an honorary PFD certificate and kind of a thank you note for coming up to Alaska to report on this amazing summit.
But we need you back here again in the summer.
This is your first time.
See, people always save, they say they save the best for last, Sean.
So I hope that's how you feel about coming to Alaska.
No, I think it's been great.
I'm glad that people have an opportunity to take a look at your state.
We appreciate your time, Governor.
Thank you so much for being with us.
Thank you for your hospitality.
We love the people here.
As we continue from Anchorage 800-941 Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, don't forget we have Cash Patel, the FBI director, Pam Bondi, tonight on the Fox News Channel.
And tomorrow after the summit, President Trump's first sit-down interview will be with yours truly.
And we're looking forward to that, hoping for the best.
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All right, to our busy phones as we continue from Anchorage, Alaska.
We say hi to Dan is in North Carolina.
Dan, how are you?
Glad you called, sir.
Yeah.
Hi, Sean.
Thank you for taking my call.
I'd like to talk about tomorrow's meeting.
And the previous discussions that Trump and Putin had, Trump trusted Putin.
That's gone now.
And I think that's a game changer.
The gloves are going to come off.
And I think that Trump is going to be the pit bull in the room.
He's going to take total control of the meeting, and it's going to be very aggressive.
And I believe he's also going to call out Putin for his lives, his past lives, before they talk about anything about peace.
What do you think of that?
Listen, I think, look, if you really break this down, the biggest beneficiary, if the president is successful, is not going to be the United States.
The biggest beneficiary is going to be the world.
It's going to be Europe.
It's going to be Ukraine.
It's going to be Russia.
The death will stop.
Hopefully, you replace war with economic partnerships.
And at the end of the day, I mean, that just makes for a better, safer world and less chance of a broadening conflict.
So it's a noble goal.
I really appreciate the fact that no other politician would expend all this political capital.
That's what delineates Donald Trump from everybody else.
So we're going to wait, watch, and see.
All right, we'll get to more of your calls coming up from Anchorage, 800-941-Sean, if you want to be a part of the program as we continue.
When we come back, more of the best of The Sean Hannity Show.
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We are in Beautiful.
We're in Anchorage, Alaska.
And it really is nice.
The people are nice.
They have the best country breakfast places you'd ever want to go to.
I didn't try the reindeer, but I'm open to it.
They have reindeer sausage.
We'll get to it.
Anyway, Congressman Nick Begich is with us, and he has a lot of thoughts on the upcoming summit tomorrow.
We will have the first interview with President Trump post-summit with Vladimir Putin.
Congressman, how are you?
Great to be in your great state.
You know, I've been to all 49 states except for Alaska now.
I've been to all 50 states, and I've been a big fan of Alaska, obsessed even because of the rugged individualism.
I'm obsessed with shows like Light Below Zero, and I love the great Deadliest Catch and stuff like that.
Anyway, it's a beautiful state, and when I find out we pay two cents an acre, I like it even more.
You saved the best for last, Sean.
And for folks out there listening, if you haven't been to Alaska, put it on the list.
Our state is an incredible place to visit.
We've got incredible mountains and scenery, of course.
We've got great fishing.
You know, Mount McKinley is up here.
Come check it out.
It's a great place to be.
But it's also a great place to host peace talks.
As most folks know, Alaska was actually purchased from Russia in the 1800s.
But what a lot of folks don't realize is it was purchased from Russia because Russia was in debt from a war, and that war location, modern-day Ukraine.
This is not a new story that we're dealing with.
The wartime adventurism of Russia has put it in precarious positions before.
So it's appropriate that we're having this opportunity for peace, these dialogue opportunities here in Alaska.
And I'm encouraged that President Trump is leading that, the world's best negotiator.
They called it at the time Seward's folly.
And meanwhile, he only paid two cents an acre.
And if you look at the actual size of Alaska, it's 591,000 square miles, which is twice the size of Texas.
And then when you factor in all of the gold and minerals and oil and energy and natural resources, what I love about Alaska is the people of Alaska, they don't pay a state income tax.
No, they get a check.
If you're a full-time resident in Alaska, you get a check based on how much money the state government will make off their natural resources.
Like, for example, what is the average check for every Alaskan citizen going to be this year?
Well, it's about $1,000 this year.
It's been as high as $3,000 per person.
That's man, woman, and child.
And it was structured that way because in Alaska, we recognize that the wealth beneath our feet is a resource that's owned by the people.
And so we have been able to save quite a bit of that money coming from oil and gas and mineral resources in the state.
We've invested it.
We've got what we call the permanent fund.
It's our own version of the sovereign wealth fund.
And it prevents us from having a state sales tax and a state income tax.
And the excess cash flows coming from those investments are actually distributed to the people.
So it's a unique model here in Alaska, but it really makes every citizen a shareholder in the activity that happens in our state.
All right, let's talk a little bit.
I'm sure it's meaningful to everybody in Alaska that this summit is taking place tomorrow.
The president has managed expectations, but he's cautiously optimistic, I think, as he should be.
And Vladimir Putin seemed to be complimentary coming into it.
On the other hand, there's been other things happening.
Vladimir Putin has gotten more aggressive.
So have the Ukrainians, for that matter, in terms of ratcheting up their war efforts.
But what Donald Trump has been doing, I think, is even more interesting.
He got, as part of the European Union trade deal, he got commitments for a trillion dollars in energy purchases by the European Union of American oil.
That's right out of Putin's pocket, and that's money that he was otherwise using to fund his war.
I think that one of the second most important things he did that got Putin's attention was he pledged that he would sell the Ukrainians and Zelensky all the weapons they wanted, very different from Joe Biden, who was giving them away.
And I think, lastly, I think the 50% tariff on India, if they continue to import Russian oil and Russian energy, had a huge, that is a huge part of the economy of Russia.
As a matter of fact, it is the economy of Russia, which has been faltering.
So I think there's been posturing on both sides, but I think the reason Putin decided to sit down is Donald Trump's serious.
Now, if this does not go well, the president, he actually used the number I've been using.
He thinks there's a 25% chance this doesn't work.
But if it doesn't work, I would argue that means Donald Trump's going to war with Vladimir Putin.
And I'm not talking about a military war.
He will ensure that anybody in the world that wants to do business with Russia and buy their energy is making a big mistake and will pay a big price.
Look, you've got to use the tools that you've got in the toolbox.
President Trump has proven that he's an expert negotiator, the world's best.
He's been able to cut really incredible trade deals for the people of America.
And he recognizes that the United States is the world's largest market.
And so there's a lot of incentive for Russia directly and indirectly through agreements with other nations and pressure on other nations to make sure that should we not be able to achieve peace, that there is a real threat of economic pressure that gets exerted to help bring people back to the table.
You've got to have dialogue if you're going to have peace.
This is the first step.
Yes, it's wise to temper expectations, but we all recognize that President Trump, when he puts his mind to things, when he puts his effort into things, when he brings the expertise of his administration to resolve challenges and problems, they've been very successful.
These first six, seven months have been incredible for the United States of America, and we are dislodging challenges that have plagued the United States for years in a very brief period of time because of Trump and the people that he's brought in.
So I'm encouraged that he's engaging in this dialogue, but you're absolutely right, Sean.
He has some capacity, some capabilities in his back pocket, and he's prepared to use those if that's what's necessary to bring peace to that region.
Well, he has seven peace deals that he's played a role in, and I've been listing them every single day, and I'm hoping this is number eight.
When you see innocent women and children dead, like we've been seeing images coming out of Ukraine, especially in recent weeks and months, I certainly don't see an upside.
I don't think it, you know, it's ironic.
And what makes Trump different, is there any European leader that you can think of?
Because Europe now wants to weigh in on what the deal ought to be.
They're not negotiating tomorrow a deal.
They're negotiating a path forward.
But it's inevitable that there's going to be land swaps.
There's inevitable probably the Donbass region, which is 80% Russian national, that that's likely going to Putin.
And I'm sure from the Ukrainian standpoint, what they're looking for the most is they want security guarantees.
And that means that they can do business with the United States by our weaponry.
I think the European Union and Western European countries have failed miserably.
It's their continent.
It's not our continent.
And there really isn't that big an upside for the United States, except that the president knows that it's, well, it's morally right to protect human life, if at all possible.
And number two, the world will be better off if we're doing business deals and not engaging in wars with each other.
Absolutely true.
You know, at the end of the day, this is a common threat among all people in all places.
We want peace.
We want an environment where we can raise our kids in peace.
We want to make sure that they have opportunity, that they receive a better world than we received.
I mean, that's part of the generational promise and generational responsibility that we have as adults is to make sure that we leave the world a better place.
And so these folks in Ukraine and these folks in Russia, quite frankly, look, they're ready for peace.
We saw just this last week polling from Gallup saying that 69 percent of Ukrainians are ready for a negotiated settlement.
And that is reversed over the last three years.
Three years ago, less than a quarter of Ukrainians wanted a negotiated settlement.
People are tired of war.
People are seeking peace.
And it's time for the leaders of these countries to listen to their people and get to a place where the war fighting stops.
Well, we hope that that's going to happen.
I'm sure the people of Anchorage and the people of Alaska and rightly so feel honored that this is taking place in at their home.
And we appreciate you, Congressman, what you do and taking the time to be with us today.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sean.
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More from Anchorage and your calls on the other side.
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If you want to be a part of the program, don't forget, we'll have the first interview with President Trump immediately after tomorrow's summit on the Fox News channel.
And we hope you'll be watching, alerting you to all the ways the government wants to butt into your life.
This is the Sean Hannity show.
Go to Phil.
He is in the great state of Alaska.
Phil, hi.
How are you?
I saved the best for last.
I've now been to all 50 states and it's great to be in Anchorage and love the people here and love the hospitality and I love the food.
Food's been great.
Oh, well, it's a great honor to have you here, Sean.
And, you know, I'm a first time caller, but a 20 plus year listener and watcher of your show.
And it's just a great honor to have you here.
A great honor to speak with you.
And, you know, what Trump is doing here and having you here in Alaska.
This is awesome.
This is great for the country.
And we couldn't have asked for anything better.
And we're all super honored.
And, yeah, food's great.
Fishing's great.
Lots of good things in Alaska.
I could even send you home with a box of fish.
What kind of fish are you going to send me home with, you know, those king crabs that they get on Deadliest Catch?
Make sure you don't give him any crab cakes.
He doesn't like crab cakes.
He gets super weird about crab cakes.
Right, Sean?
No, we had him last night and she brought him on the plane and stunk up the whole plane.
Expensive crab.
First of all.
the entire hotel room full of it i was kind enough why are you so angry i'm very Angry.
You're very angry.
We'll talk about it later.
But whatever you do, if you go fishing, just don't get any crab.
He's not a big fan.
She's mad because I didn't want crab cakes from last night leftovers for breakfast this morning.
You know what's wrong with you?
You don't even know why I'm mad.
That's the problem.
I don't even care.
That's the bit that's.
I do not care.
Totally.
Can we talk to Phil in Alaska?
Let's talk to him about not fishing for crab.
Go ahead.
Phil, anyway, what kind of fish could I catch?
Well, if you wanted, right now, we've got the final run of the Reds that are passing through the Russian River confluence, and so you could pick some of those up there.
Also, the silver salmon are starting to run through.
You know, as far as like river fish, and if you went out into the ocean, you know, you could catch halibut and king salmon, which are some of the best eaten there.
You could even get some crab if you're really.
Have you ever been anywhere near the Bering Straits where deadliest catches?
Have you ever been out there crabbing out there?
No, I have not.
You know, I just do local fishing, just small boats.
But, you know, that's a whole different breed of people that do that.
You know, me personally, I don't have sea legs.
You get me on a boat and I'm hanging over the side most of the time, but I'm still catching my fish.
Listen, this is what I love.
If you live in Alaska, the odds are very high.
You're an outdoors person, that you are a rugged individualist, that you, you know, maybe in Anchorage is not a place where you're living off the grid, but the fact that so many people in Alaska in remote areas live off the grid fascinates me.
And the fact that, you know, you have these guys, I mean, I've been watching Deadliest Catch for years, and I can't even count the number of people on those boats that have died, you know, trying to feed all of us and how hard that job is.
And I admire all of them for it and can't believe how dangerous it is.
But anyway, I love being here.
Thank you so much, Phil, for your hospitality.
I wish we had time.
You know, people keep saying, Sean, go to Mount McKinley.
I'm like, when am I going to have time to do that?
I wish we would have had time to maybe do an event here in Anchorage and meet people.
But I think I definitely am planning on coming back.
I don't think you'll see me in December, January, February, but you might see me next August.
My blood is thin since I've moved down to the free state of Florida.
Anyway, 800-941 Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, just to give you some logistical information tonight on Hannity, we have both FBI Director Cash Patel and the Attorney General Pam Bondi on a number of topics.
Obviously, the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, all the information that is now coming out.
And then on the other side of it, we're going to find out: are these people going to be held accountable, responsible for what we now know they were involved in with the declassification?
And so we'll have those interviews.
And tomorrow, right after the summit, we'll have the first interview, one-on-one interview with President Trump.
And that'll also air on Fox.
Quick break from Anchorage in Alaska.
It's the Sean Hannity Show on the road.
We're at the summit as we continue.
This is the best of the best.
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