Trump says he supports US diesel export ban

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WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 02: U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a meeting with U.S. travel executives in the Oval Office of the White House on September 02, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump met with executives from travel companies including American Airlines, Marriott, MGM Resorts, Carnival, Caesars Entertainment, Hard Rock International, Venetian, and Raffles & Fairmont. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Kevin Dietsch / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

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US President Donald Trump expressed support on Tuesday for a diesel export ban, with fuel prices surging over the war in the Middle East.

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“I’ve called for that too. I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel,” Trump told reporters when asked about the issue during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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“We make a lot of diesel. That could have a little bit of an effect on regular automobile gasoline,” he said.

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was also present at the talks in New York, said Washington was examining “whether it’s feasible in terms of the overall refining capacity and whether a full or partial ban would work.”

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Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters last week that he was “open” to a diesel export ban “if that would take pressure off of prices.”

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Fuel prices have soared since the start of the US-Iran war in late February, threatening to cost Trump’s Republicans their control of Congress in November’s midterms.

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AFP

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