“Eight years ago this month, we held one of the very first rallies of the 2016 campaign right here in Alabama. Together we launched the greatest political movement in the history of our country, and now with the help of Alabama patriots … we’re going to do it again, but we’re going to do it even bigger and better than 2016. … 2016 was very, very special, and we taught people a lot and they taught us a lot, frankly, but this state has been with us right from the beginning … and we will completely finish the job. We are going to do something that’s going to be so incredible.”
—President Donald J. Trump at the 2023 AL GOP Dinner
The most memorable and enduring relationships are often full of strangeness and strain. Tribulation makes the heart grow fonder. The greater the trial, the stronger the ties. No one remembers smooth sailing, but everyone recalls being caught up in a storm together. Those are the bonds that burrow deep into the base of the brain, connections that stick like instinct.
Indeed, as much as Alabamians may love him, state politics have presented a strange, sometimes strained relationship with Trump.
From Jeff Sessions’ rocky tenure as Trump’s first U.S. Attorney General to the fractious elections surrounding Luther Strange, Roy Moore and Mo Brooks – Trump and Alabama have had their differences. Yet, the relationship seems better off for it, as the future of Trump-Alabama relations looks bright.
Not only does Trump appear to have a good relationship with both of Alabama’s sitting United States senators, he also seems apt to working with Alabama’s entire congressional delegation – as well as a new generation of state government leaders.
Undoubtedly, if re-elected in 2024, Trump will not forget Alabama in his second term.
So, how could a Trump win in November directly impact our great state?
1. Space Command HQ
The most obvious impact could be Trump’s swift reversal of Biden’s decision to remove U.S. Space Command from Alabama.
“I fully rebuilt the US military, created Space Force, and put the US Space Command (SPACECOM) in Alabama, which Biden just moved the hell out of your state,” Trump told Alabama Republicans in August of 2023, “But maybe that’s not going to be the end of that story.”
And it shouldn’t be the end of that story. Redstone Arsenal, according to the Air Force’s own meritorious evaluations, was clearly the top choice to permanently locate SPACECOM. A Department of Defense Inspector General report further confirmed Trump’s decision to base SPACECOM in Alabama had “complied with law and policy, and was reasonable in identifying Huntsville as the preferred permanent location.”
After the Biden administration chose to reverse Trump’s initial SPACECOM decision, Alabama’s entire congressional delegation has been priming the pump for a second Trump administration to reverse Biden’s abject political patronage.
"Now, this is something we've got to give credit to the entire Alabama delegation," Alabama Sen. Katie Britt recently told me in an interview. "Every single person, whether it was Terri Sewell, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, you name it. Everyone was working diligently to use their post, and their position, and their committee assignment to make sure that we were pushing so that could be a reality. And that was a great bipartisan, bicameral effort. And what we did was put language in various bills that made sure that that could be a reality if, in fact, Trump comes back into office."
2. Vulcan’s Troubles South of Border
In that very same interview with Britt, I also had the chance to ask her how a second Trump administration would handle the Mexican government’s ongoing threats to seize the property (port and quarry) of the Alabama-based Vulcan Materials Company.
"I think Vulcan, taken care of immediately,” Britt told me, “And I also think that that helps every, not just our Alabama company, every American company. When they know that their president has their back, it's a game changer in dealing with other countries."
3. A Wider I-65?
“One of the first things that I will do to help the great people of Alabama,” Trump promised at the 2023 AL GOP dinner, “is to approve a six-lane I-65 from Huntsville to Mobile.”
One person especially overjoyed to hear Trump’s promise was Alabama Lt. Gov Will Ainsworth, who has championed the project for a couple years now.
“Among the top infrastructure needs in Alabama is three-laning I-65 from the Tennessee line to Mobile. Far too often, I-65 is essentially one long parking lot,’ Ainsworth posted to social media in 2022. “It frustrates drivers, hurts commerce, and fails to serve the needs of taxpayers. It should have been done decades ago.”
More recently, Ainsworth used the example of traffic jams amidst Hurricane Milton evacuations from Florida as more evidence for the need to widen I-65, telling 1819 News, “Just as I-65 takes tourists to visit our world-famous beaches, it is also the route that takes Alabamians and others to safety when hurricanes threaten the Gulf Coast, and simply adding a lane both north and south could literally save lives.”
Trump’s promise at the 2023 AL GOP dinner to widen I-65 suggests Ainsworth, much to his credit, is already talking to Trump about the project.
Bonus Round: Speculation over Tuberville’s Future
According to the rumor mill, Alabama’s senior U.S. senator, Coach Tommy Tuberville, has a cabinet position waiting for him in a second Trump term. Trump and Tuberville’s relationship certainly seems warm enough for that speculation to be plausible.
If true, only Tuberville knows what he will do, though I suspect he hates the prospect of living in Washington D.C. full-time. Can a commerce secretary work from home?
That said, if Tuberville does decide to join the Trump administration, a vacant U.S. Senate seat would shake state politics like an earthquake, especially the ambitions and prospects of 2026 statewide elections.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email joeyclarklive@gmail.com. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
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