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Trump backs diesel export ban; White House says a day later it is not preparing one

Trump said he had called for keeping U.S. diesel at home as prices hit records. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said a ban “definitely doesn’t work,” and the White House denied a report of a planned 90-day halt.

Motion Media News Staff

Sep 23, 2026

3 minutes

Refinery towers and storage tanks at a petrochemical complex near Houston, Texas.

Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons (cropped) (source)

President Trump said Tuesday, Sept. 22, that he supports banning U.S. diesel exports to bring down record fuel prices, but the White House said the next day that it is not preparing such a ban.

"I've said let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel … I've called for it within my people," Trump told reporters at the U.N. General Assembly in New York before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Reuters reported. At the same appearance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was studying whether a full or partial ban would be feasible.

On Wednesday, the White House told The Hill that a Politico report of a planned 90-day export ban was "not true." It pointed to comments by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who told The Wall Street Journal the administration would not stop every diesel shipment abroad and would instead seek voluntary steps to lower prices. "The blunt tool of banning diesel exports definitely doesn't work," Wright told Reuters, according to The Hill.

Prices and politics

Diesel averaged $6.52 a gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA figures cited by The Hill. Reuters said prices in the U.S. and Europe had hit records as the wars involving Iran and Ukraine cut exports from major producers including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Republicans in several competitive races, including Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and Senate candidate Mike Rogers of Michigan, had urged the administration to act. "American fuel should stay home with Americans," Sullivan said. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called high prices "a real concern," Reuters reported, citing Politico.

The case against

Wright had warned the previous week that a ban would create a diesel glut on the Gulf Coast and lead refiners to cut output, reducing gasoline supply as well. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said a ban was unlikely to lower prices and could invite retaliation from energy exporters, according to Reuters.

Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, said a ban "would cripple domestic jobs, lead to fuel shortages here at home" and push U.S. allies toward China and Russia. Jim Mitchell of Wood Mackenzie told Reuters that because Europe depends heavily on U.S. diesel, a ban "would seem pretty damaging to some key U.S. allies."

What's next

Politico's report said the legal process for a ban was still being worked out, according to The Hill. Abroad, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sept. 24 that a U.S. diesel export ban would be "catastrophic," Reuters reported via Defense News.