On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to boost domestic production of glyphosate – the alleged cancer-causing chemical at the center of widespread Roundup lawsuits. It was a move that shocked health and safety and environmental advocates and caused immediate outcry within the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.
Trump’s reasoning is tied to claims that elemental phosphorous and glyphosate are essential to both the agricultural industry and military. The executive order provides a level of immunity to producers of the chemicals.
Currently, Bayer is the only domestic producer of glyphosate and phosphorous (Bayer).
According to the order released from the White House, glyphosate and phosphorous are crucial for food-supply security. It states the lack of access to weedkillers containing glyphosate would put agricultural productivity in jeopardy.
In terms of defense security, the order claims that the current level of elemental phosphorous and glyphosate production in the US puts the nation at significant risk; specifically, it makes the US “vulnerable to hostile foreign actors and poses an imminent threat to military readiness”.
With this week’s presidential order, national production of the mineral and chemical used in weedkillers and the manufacturing of military equipment is set to increase.
Does Trump’s Order to Boost Glyphosate Production Affect Roundup Cancer Lawsuits?
So far, it’s been a busy 2026 for Bayer and the Roundup litigation that involves tens of thousands of cancer lawsuits that have yet to be resolved.
In mid-January, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear Bayer’s appeal to state court outcomes based on its preemption stance; the weedkiller company has long argued that their compliance with federal regulations, specifically that their product label, which didn’t include a cancer warning, was approved by the EPA, should bar state-level lawsuits against them. Previous appeals to the Supreme Court, including one in 2022, have been declined.
Trump invoking the Defense Production Act to ramp up production of glyphosate also came just one day after Bayer announced a proposed, $7.25 billion settlement to resolve numerous Roundup cancer lawsuits. Unfortunately, attorneys involved in the 65,000 active claims that the more than $7 billion would apply to (as well as cover future claims), are skeptical that it will move forward.
Bayer has the right to call it off if too many plaintiffs opt out of the offer. It also needs to be court-approved and requires nearly all claimants to accept the settlement for it to move forward.
What the executive order means for the Roundup cancer lawsuits against Monsanto, a subsidiary of Bayer, is unknown at this time. With the Supreme Court set to hear an appeal by Bayer, and the company’s proposed, multi-billion-dollar settlement, there’s significant uncertainty surrounding the ongoing litigation. Not to mention, Roundup lymphoma lawsuits are still actively being filed, indicating there’s no clear end in sight to Bayer’s litigation woes.
MAHA Activists Stunned by Trump’s Order to Protect and Encourage Glyphosate Production
Since the executive order was issued earlier this week, there’s been a swift shift in support among the Make America Healthy Again movement. MAHA has long-backed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and helped Trump get elected in his second term.
In turn, the president has made some strategic moves to maintain their support since he took office again. But fissures began to appear last August, after the administration removed language in the MAHA Commission report that restricted the use of certain pesticides.
And now, as domestic production of the weedkiller is set to increase following Trump’s use of the Defense Production Act, MAHA activists are speaking out against the glyphosate order. Many see this as a broken promise, and that it will affect their support in the 2026 midterms.
While the number of voters connected to MAHA is unknown, they’re not the only ones who have begun to, or fully, changed their minds about who they’ll be voting for later this year. In less than a year, the administration has burned numerous bridges, many of whom were long-time supporters.
Whether there will be any sort of damage control for the fallout is unknown, but with Kennedy backing the president, the administration’s relationship with MAHA is uncertain at best.
