U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 18 February 2026 that designates the controversial herbicide glyphosate as a national security priority to protect its domestic production. This effectively places the weedkiller, commonly found in products like Roundup, as a critical component of American food production and national security.
Donald Trump Positions the Controversial Herbicide Glyphosate as Critical to U.S. National Security
National Security Priority
The second Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act ensure that the supply chain for the chemical remains uninterrupted. This move is generally intended to bolster both the security of food supply and overall agricultural output by ensuring that U.S. farmers have access to the herbicides necessary for large-scale industrial agriculture across the country.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has been directed to implement new regulations as soon as possible. These rules will streamline the mining of elemental phosphorus, a key ingredient in glyphosate, across the country. The administration argues that domestic manufacturing is now essential for protecting the American economy.
Note that the Defense Production Act was enacted in 1950 in response to the start of the Korean War and as part of the broader national security effort during the Cold War. The purpose of this federal law is to establish a system of priorities and allocations for critical materials and facilities. It has been invoked several times by previous U.S. presidents.
A significant portion of the executive order from Trump focuses on providing legal immunity for chemical corporations. Specifically, in citing section 707 of the Act, companies are shielded from liabilities arising from the production and distribution of glyphosate. The clause protects manufacturers who are complying with the direct federal mandates.
Health and Safety Concerns
It is worth mentioning that the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spoken against this chemical. The specific Make America Healthy Again or MAHA coalition has criticized the use of glyphosate and has linked it to cancer development. However, following the newer executive order, Kennedy has defended the decision of Trump.
The White House has also published The MAHA Report: Make Our Children Healthy Again on 16 May 2025. It claimed that several studies on herbicides, particularly glyphosates, have noted a range of possible health effects. These range from reproductive and developmental disorders to liver inflammation, cancers, and metabolic disturbances or disorders.
The timing of the executive order is notable as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer faces massive litigation. The German company, which acquired the US-based agrochemical and biotechnology company Monsanto in 2018, is defending tens of thousands of lawsuits. Plaintiffs claim that exposure to Roundup caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Several studies have investigated the negative health effects of glyphosate. The consensus is that this broad-spectrum systemic herbicide has low acute oral toxicity for mammals and that there is no evidence of human carcinogenicity. However, in several studies, certain formulations, such as the inclusion of surfactants, can increase their relative acute toxicity.
Importance of Glyphosate
Glyphosate remains significant in agriculture despite the availability of alternative herbicides and substitute weed-killing methods. This importance stems from an unparalleled combination of extreme effectiveness, broad-spectrum properties, and low cost. Note that crops like soybean and corn can be genetically modified to be resistant to this chemical.
This chemical is generally regarded as irreplaceable. Experts have noted that there is nothing in the current market and even current research and development pipeline that functions as efficiently and effectively as glyphosate. Substitute methods like manual tillage and organic techniques are more expensive and labor-intensive in large-scale agricultural environments.
Nevertheless, in the United States, Bayer is the sole domestic producer of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides. The second Trump administration believes that promoting and protecting domestic production is necessary to national food security, and depending on foreign supplies leaves the U.S. vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions.
The executive order also guarantees federal legal and political protection from lawsuits against glyphosate producers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also directed to provide some sort of a federal safety net across the domestic glyphosate supply chain by ensuring that regulations do not put the business viability of domestic producers at risk.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Downs, G. 19 February 2026. “Kennedy Defends Trump Glyphosate Order; MAHA Erupts as Midterm Approaches.” CNBC. Available online
- The White House. 18 February 2026. “Promoting the National Defense by Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Elemental Phosphate and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides.” The White House. Available online
- The White House. 2025. The MAHA Report: Make Our Children Healthy Again. Available via PDF
- Van Bruggen, A. H. C., He, M. M., Shin, K., Mai, V., Jeong, K. C., Finckh, M. R., and Morris, J. G., Jr. 2018. “Environmental and Health Effects of the Herbicide Glyphosate.” Science of The Total Environment. 616-617: 255-268. DOI: 1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.309