Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy told CNBC on Tuesday that it will be hard for President Donald Trump to be booted from office, due to the strong economic performance during his tenure.
"All of the numbers are looking good for the country and Alaska," said Dunleavy, who was one of the few Republican pickups in the Democratic surge in the 2018 midterm elections. Given the chance, the Republican-led Senate is unlikely to remove Trump, he added. "Economic indicators [are] hard to beat."
The House, controlled by Democrats, is nearing a vote on two articles of impeachment. The articles accuse the president of abuse of power for asking Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden while withholding aid as leverage, and with obstruction of Congress for stonewalling the House investigation.
Dunleavy, who did not address the specific charges against Trump, said in a "Squawk Box" interview, "It'll be very hard for folks on the left to convince the country" and Republican senators to vote to remove the president.
The U.S. economy, which was on fire last year, has been cooling lately, under the weight of the U.S.-China trade war. Despite the tariffs, now on hold after Friday's phase one deal, American consumers have generally weathered the storm, and the nation's 3.5% unemployment rate last month matched 50-year lows.
The Federal Reserve, despite Trump's frequent bashing and calling for lower interest rates, did deliver three rate cuts this year to inoculate the U.S. economy from the worldwide slowdown. The stock market, as measured by the S&P 500, since Trump's 2016 election victory is up nearly 50%. The S&P 500 closed at another record high Monday.
Dunleavy said he met with a handful of government officials and Trump on Monday to discuss trade and the state of the U.S. economy. The governor said he remains optimistic.
"Things are looking good," Dunleavy said, adding that Trump is "on the verge of solidifying" the initial trade agreement with China, which calls for Beijing to purchase billions of dollars worth of U.S. agricultural goods and to embrace structural change to intellectual property and technology issues.
In return, the Trump administration agreed to pause tariffs. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the two major economies plan to sign the accord in the first week of January.