With the inauguration of not only President Trump (R) but also the Northern Mariana Islands’ first Republican delegate to Congress, Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R), the commonwealth is preparing for a new era of national politics. These changes come at a time when national engagement is more important than ever for the commonwealth.

CNMI Governor Arnold Palacios (R), is optimistic about the transition. Though he ran for governor as an independent, Governor Palacios pointed out that he is a registered Republican: “The fact of the matter is I am now a registered member of the Republican National Committee, and I am a Republican governor in the eyes of the RNC.” Him and President Trump’s shared politics, he hopes, will provide a foundation for cooperation issues concerning the Northern Mariana Islands.

The commonwealth currently has a number of issues tied up with the federal government. Palacios described how during the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous CNMI administration overspent funds delegated by the American Rescue Plan Act, and that the commonwealth has been in a deficit since. 

In 2024, government spending decreased significantly and budgets were cut across the board to recover the deficit. As a result, Palacios feels the Northern Marianas economy is falling behind. In January, he mused about how the commonwealth would benefit from an additional $50 million dollars to invest in small businesses. He added that he would leverage the Northern Marianas’ critical role in American national security and forward deployment to secure greater federal funding.

But Palacios may run into challenges. President Trump entered office on a warpath to decrease the federal budget, and he began immediately with a temporary freeze on nearly 2,600 federal programs. The order was temporarily blocked by a federal judge, but it included nearly $200 million in insular programs.

Though Governor Palacios and President Trump share a political party, their interests may be opposed. Governor Palacios has consistently rallied for more federal funding to the Northern Marianas, viewing it as essential to revitalize the commonwealth’s economy and a fair exchange for the islands’ military utility. President Trump, on the other hand, has made decreasing federal spending a priority, and it seems unlikely that insular affairs are at the top of his list of programs to preserve. Whether Governor Palacios will be able to achieve his priorities under the new administration remains to be seen.