Trump allows cheaper, dyed diesel on highways to blunt historic fuel-cost spike ahead of midterms

A truck parks at a diesel fuel pump with prices above $8 per gallon at a truck stop in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on September 22, 2026. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump has allowed the use of cheaper red-dyed diesel, typically reserved for farm operations, to be used more broadly in an attempt to bring down record-high fuel costs.Trump signed an executive order Monday evening stateside to temporarily allow truckers and farmers to use red-dyed diesel — which is exempt from highway fuel taxes — and deferred related taxes on the fuel through the end of this year. The tax-free diesel is typically used by farm equipment, construction machinery, trucks and other off-road vehicles. It is therefore exempt from a 24.4 cent-per-gallon tax applied to diesel fuel sold for highway transportation. Using dyed diesel in vehicles operated on public roads is considered illegal, and could result in fines for tax evasion. But several states this year have relaxed restrictions on the tax-exempt diesel to help Americans cope with surging fuel prices. The U.S. national average price of diesel topped $6 a gallon in September for the first time ever,...