On Feb. 18, President Trump signed an executive order related to domestic elemental phosphorus and glyphosate production touching on three policy tenets common to the administration: national security, food production and affordability. One connection that wasn’t made: Make America Healthy Again (MAHA), as some MAHA-aligned advocates have been critical of the pervasive use of glyphosate in agricultural production.
The executive order outlines why and how USDA will ensure adequate supplies of elemental phosphates and glyphosate herbicides.
From the executive order: “As the most widely used crop protection tools in United States agriculture, glyphosate-based herbicides are a cornerstone of this Nation’s agricultural productivity and rural economy, allowing United States farmers and ranchers to maintain high yields and low production costs while ensuring that healthy, affordable food options remain within reach for all American families.”
Elemental phosphorus is used in many industrial and defense-related applications and notably is a key ingredient in the process to formulate glyphosate.
Bayer, through its subsidiary Monsanto, is the only domestic producer of glyphosate in the U.S. Bayer mines phosphorus in Soda Springs, Idaho, formulates glyphosate production in Muscatine, Iowa, and finishes the formulation and production in Luling, La. Due to legal liabilities over lawsuits related to allegations of glyphosate leading to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, last year Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said the company may stop producing the herbicide.
Bayer subsidiary Monsanto provided this statement: “President Trump’s executive order reinforces the critical need for U.S. farmers to have access to essential, domestically produced crop protection tools such as glyphosate. We will comply with this order to produce glyphosate and elemental phosphorus.”
Noting the supply chain vulnerability, the executive order mentions the Department of the Interior has designated elemental phosphorus as a scarce material. Every year, 6,000,000 kilograms of elemental phosphorus are imported into the U.S.
Per the president’s executive order, “Consistent with these findings, I find that ensuring robust domestic elemental phosphorus mining and United States-based production of glyphosate-based herbicides is central to American economic and national security. Without immediate Federal action, the United States remains inadequately equipped and vulnerable.”
The order delegates Defense Production Act authorities to the secretary of agriculture to help ensure adequate supplies of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides, including issuing orders and adopting implementing regulations in coordination with defense officials, while avoiding actions that would jeopardize the viability of domestic producers.
Supporters of the MAHA movement have posted on social media reacting negatively to the White House supporting glyphosate production and use in the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., who has been critical of glyphosate, has not commented on the executive order.
While the first MAHA report issued in May 2025 opened up the discussion to criticize pesticide use, including glyphosate, the follow-up action strategy related in September 2025 was more well received by the agricultural industry for how it cited scientific standards for pesticide regulation and use.
