President Donald Trump is now “very seriously” weighing a ban on diesel exports as US fuel prices reach record levels—despite senior Cabinet officials insisting for months that the option was off the table.
“The blunt tool of banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at an event last week.
Wright, the administration’s senior energy official overseeing oil and gas production and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, has cautioned that an export ban “would put upward pressure on gasoline prices and jet fuel prices.”
In May, Wright said the policy was “absolutely” ruled out. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also described export restrictions as “bad on all accounts” that month.
However, when reporters asked Trump about the proposal on Sunday at a golf tournament in Illinois, he said his administration was “thinking about it very seriously.”
“That can oftentimes lead to a little bit of an increase on gasoline for cars, so we’re looking at it very seriously. We may do it,” Trump said, acknowledging that the measure could further raise prices at the pump.
Republican lawmakers have broadly opposed the possible ban, with some calling it a “mistake” that could “backfire badly.” The proposal has also angered some MAGA-aligned oil industry donors, who argue that it would worsen an already difficult market.
Trump’s apparent reversal comes as US diesel prices climb to about $6.50 per gallon, nearly $3 higher than at the same time last year, when the average price was $3.69, according to the American Automobile Association.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he is “very seriously” considering a ban on US diesel exports.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that “banning diesel exports definitely doesn’t work.”
Republican lawmakers and oil executives have warned that a diesel export ban could harm both producers and consumers.
Strikes on oil refineries across the Middle East linked to the Iran war, along with attacks on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine, have sent prices sharply higher over the past month.
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by roughly 40 cents, reaching $4.48 from $4.09 a month earlier, AAA reported.
Trump’s renewed consideration of a diesel export ban comes as Republicans face increasingly poor prospects of retaining control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Prediction market Kalshi gives Democrats a 92 percent chance of winning control of the House of Representatives and a 62 percent chance of taking the Senate.
Both figures are record highs for the party, suggesting that bettors increasingly expect a Democratic wave as the Iran war, rising fuel costs and broader affordability concerns weigh on Trump and the Republican Party.
For the President, the proposed policy carries significant political risks.
Republican lawmakers and oil industry executives—including many MAGA-aligned donors—have urged the administration not to proceed with the ban, which is now receiving serious consideration.
Texas Senator John Cornyn told Semafor last week that the proposal was “a gimmick” that “won’t work.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, also a Texan, said imposing a ban would be a “mistake.”
The Iran war has driven US gas prices sharply higher over the past seven months, as strikes on Middle Eastern oil facilities and a US blockade of Tehran’s energy sector have tightened global supplies.
Opponents of the ban are concerned that restricting exports will put pressure on US reserves. If they fill up, producers are concerned they will be forced to pump less gas
Trump on a 2019 visit to a Liquid Natural Gas facility in Louisiana, where Republican lawmakers have voiced strong opposition to the diesel export ban under consideration
‘It would have massive harm to the refining industry,’ he told NBC News. ‘We refine more diesel than we consume, and it would end up forcing refiners to reduce production. So it would backfire badly.’
Both Louisiana Senators, John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, have also come out against any potential ban.
‘Everything I’ve read tells me it won’t do any good,’ Kennedy told reporters last week.
Since the US produces more diesel than the country uses, opponents of the ban have argued that the policy would quickly fill domestic storage tanks, and once that happens, producers may be forced to pump less oil.
Advocates for keeping the fuel stateside say it could ease costs for consumers, namely farmers and truckers who rely on gas to produce and transport food.
Given the steep recent increase in fuel prices, some experts have warned those costs will be passed on to consumers at grocery or department stores.
‘Americans are hurting from rising diesel costs driven by an unprecedented disruption to global refining capacity,’ Mike Sommers, President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said in a statement.
‘The answer is more supply and more flexibility – not new restrictions that risk making a difficult situation worse.’
Trump donor and oil executive Dan Eberhart told the Wall Street Journal: ‘I think we’ve invested too much in developing customers overseas, and this is the wrong signal.’
A spokesman for the Department of Energy told Our News Outlet: ‘The Trump administration, including Secretary Wright, continue to work closely together as they consider a variety of options to help lower energy costs for the American people. Ultimately, President Trump will make the final decisions.’
The White House was contacted for comment.
