President Trump's bid to hand Republican Senate candidates a pair of pre-election economic wins ran into trouble this week, as South Korea publicly contradicted his account of a $54 billion Alaska gas investment and Iowa lawmakers were accused of ramming through a $1.36 billion tax deal just ahead of early voting.

Trump announced on September 30 that South Korea would invest roughly $54 billion to help build an 807-mile pipeline carrying natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to an export terminal, standing alongside Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who faces a competitive reelection fight against Democrat Mary Peltola. But South Korean officials quickly pushed back. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the announcement went "far beyond what was agreed," and Seoul lodged a formal protest with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Han Jeoungae, secretary-general of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's party, said Seoul would decide on any investment "only after thoroughly reviewing it in accordance with our domestic legal procedures and based on the principle of commercial viability."

Trump dismissed the pushback, telling reporters Friday he hadn't "jumped the gun" and warning South Korea that if it balked, "I'll just charge them more."

"This was a made-for-TV political campaign event," former federal Alaska gas project coordinator Larry Persily said of the announcement.

Iowa's rushed vote

Thirteen hundred miles away, Iowa lawmakers were dealing with their own credibility questions over a separate Trump-touted project: a proposed $15 billion Mesabi Metallics steel plant in Lee County that Trump unveiled at the White House on September 28. In a special session held with little advance notice, the Iowa House and Senate passed a package worth up to $1.36 billion in tax credits over 10 years — roughly $777,000 per promised permanent job — and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law Friday night, less than two weeks before early voting begins on October 14 in a district Republicans won by fewer than 800 votes in 2024.

Six Republican state senators joined Democrats in voting no. "The political extortion is breathtaking," Republican state Sen. Kevin Alons said of the timeline, according to CBS News. Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner argued the chamber should have waited until after the election, while Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rob Sand pointed to past state deals that "gave away the farm."

Mesabi Metallics, owned by India's Essar Group, has not yet acquired land or filed for permits in Lee County, which has no zoning ordinance covering the project, and Fortune reported that Essar's predecessor entity filed for bankruptcy in 2016 after abandoning an earlier Minnesota mill. Critics have compared the pledge to Wisconsin's 2017 Foxconn deal, which promised 13,000 jobs and delivered a fraction of that.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick insisted "the deal is done," and Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for Sullivan's open Senate seat and appeared alongside Trump at the Oval Office announcement, has touted the plant on the trail. Trump administration officials maintain both projects are moving forward in good faith.

With Election Day five weeks away, both episodes are likely to keep drawing scrutiny as reporters, state auditors and South Korean regulators probe how much of the announced money is actually committed.