U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces new nutrition policy during a press conference at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC, USA, January 8, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended an executive order encouraging domestic production of the herbicide glyphosate, as President Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement is reeling from Trump’s embrace of the chemical he detests.
President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday night activating the Defense Production Act, forcing domestic production of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate herbicides. Glyphosate is a chemical that Bayer Monsanto Roundup is the most commonly used herbicide on many crops in the United States. President Trump said in his executive order that shortages of both phosphorus and glyphosate pose a risk to national security.
Kennedy supported the president in a statement to CNBC Thursday morning.
“President Donald Trump’s executive orders put America first in the most important areas: our defense preparedness and our food supply.” “We must first protect America’s national security, because all of our priorities depend on it. When adversarial forces control critical inputs, our security is weakened. By expanding domestic production, we close that gap and protect American families.”
But the Kennedy-led MAHA coalition, which supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election, hates glyphosate, which has been claimed in countless lawsuits to cause cancer. Now, the executive order threatens to unravel that coalition ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, which could loosen the president’s grip on Washington.
Kelly Ryerson, a prominent MAHA activist known as Glyphosate Girl, said in a post to
“I can’t think of a bigger middle finger to all MAHA moms,” Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, a watchdog organization that has long opposed chemicals in food, said in a statement.
“Elevating glyphosate to a national security priority is the exact opposite of what MAHA voters promised,” Cook said. “If Secretary Kennedy remains at HHS after this, it will be impossible to argue that his past warnings about glyphosate were nothing more than campaign rhetoric to gain trust and votes.”
Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, once won a nearly $290 million lawsuit against Monsanto Co. against a man who claimed Roundup caused his cancer. The executive order came a day after Bayer offered to pay $7.25 billion to settle a series of lawsuits alleging that Roundup causes cancer.
Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) criticized President Trump for signing the European Union (EO) to protect cancer-causing glyphosate in foods.
Glyphosate is an important chemical for American agriculture. The system applies to many major cash crops, including corn and soybeans, and is championed by agricultural trade groups. Phosphorus is a key input to glyphosate production, which the White House claims is necessary to maintain food security. Elemental phosphorus is also used in the production of some military materials.
“Thank you, President Trump, for recognizing the importance of glyphosate herbicides to American agriculture,” the House Agriculture Committee said Wednesday night on the X-Post. “This is an important step forward in ensuring that domestic supplies of this critical crop input are available to growers.”
Rep. GT Thompson (R-Pennsylvania), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, is trying to push the Farm Bill through Congress this year, a legislative package targeting federal farm aid and nutrition subsidies. He recently came under fire from MAHA for a provision in the bill that would prevent state and local pesticide regulations from differing from federal guidance.
