_WHAT’S HAPPENING_
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, invoking the Defense Production Act to protect domestic production of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides, framing the chemicals as critical to national security and food supply.
The move ignited a firestorm among Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) supporters who consider glyphosate a primary driver of chronic disease in America. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously called glyphosate "one of the likely culprits in America's chronic disease epidemic," though he came out in defense of the president’s order.
Follow the full story: MAHA and RFK Jr.'s health agenda
_THE FACTS_
Trump's order designates glyphosate as "a cornerstone of this Nation's agricultural productivity and rural economy" and crucial to national security.
The order grants immunity to domestic producers of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides.
Bayer this week proposed a $7.25 billion settlement plan for thousands of lawsuits alleging Roundup causes cancer.
Health Secretary RFK Jr. won a nearly $290 million case against Monsanto in 2018 for a man claiming his cancer was caused by Roundup.
In June 2024, Kennedy wrote on X that glyphosate "is one of the likely culprits in America's chronic disease epidemic" and promised his USDA would ban its use as a desiccant.
A June 2025 Environmental Health study found low doses of glyphosate cause multiple types of cancer in rats.
MAHA activist Alex Clark warned that MAHA moms are "absolutely furious" and questioning whether to vote in the 2026 midterms.
RFK Jr.’s former finance director for his presidential campaign predicted the move could cost Republicans 10 to 20 House seats in the midterms.
Kennedy defended the order, saying "we must safeguard America's national security first, because all of our priorities depend on it."
House Agriculture Committee Republicans praised the order, writing, "FOOD SECURITY IS NATIONAL SECURITY.”
_INSIGHTS_
This executive order was clearly a misstep by the Trump administration. MAHA is one of the few movements drawing bipartisan backing, as concerns about cancer-linked pesticides were once championed by Democrats and are now being taken up by Republicans.
From the reactions on the Right, most are not buying that boosting the production of these chemicals is a critical national security issue; as the order itself states, it is meant to increase “profit margins” for chemical suppliers. Considering MAHA’s champion, RFK Jr., is now flipping on a dime after just last month noting that glyphosate causes cancer — this signals a betrayal of a core policy priority.
