Trump Backs Diesel Export Ban as Fuel Prices Hit Records

US President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind a ban on diesel exports, a step lawmakers from farm states have urged as a way to bring down soaring energy costs.

Speaking to reporters before a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump said he had asked his team to pursue the idea. "I've said let's not send out the diesel. We make a lot of diesel ... I've called for it. I've called for it within my people," he said.

Diesel prices have climbed to record levels in the United States and Europe, with wars in Iran and Ukraine sharply reducing exports from major producers including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. High fuel costs are a political vulnerability for Trump ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, in which his Republican Party is seeking to hold both chambers of Congress.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking at the same meeting, said the administration was studying whether an export ban is feasible and whether a full or partial restriction would be more effective. The push follows pressure from Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who said on X last week that high diesel prices were "KILLING FARMERS INCOME."

Trump's position places him at odds with senior officials in his own administration. Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned that a ban would create a glut of diesel on the US Gulf Coast and push refiners to cut production, which would in turn reduce gasoline output. "If you start putting barriers on flows, pretty quickly you will reduce the production, and you'll have less supply. We need more supply, not less supply," Wright said at a Daily Caller event last week.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said a ban was unlikely to lower petroleum prices and could invite retaliatory measures from energy-exporting countries that states such as California depend on for some of their energy.

Analysts note that while an export ban could temporarily lower prices on the US Gulf Coast, it would tighten supplies further in Europe, which is structurally short of diesel and relies heavily on US shipments. "That would seem pretty damaging to some key U.S. allies," said Jim Mitchell, director of oil trading analytics at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Trump said he and Zelenskiy would discuss Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries. "It is a serious hit on the Russians. It's also a serious hit on the price of diesel," he said, adding that the two leaders would also discuss a path to ending Russia's war in Ukraine. "I think it's going to happen," Trump said.