Reports stated that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day diesel export ban, but the White House later denied it; U.S. Energy Secretary publicly opposed the measure.

The Trump administration is evaluating a diesel export ban to curb soaring fuel prices, but internal policy disagreements have become public. Energy Secretary Chris Wright explicitly stated that such a ban would be ineffective and could drive up gasoline and jet fuel prices—directly contradicting Trump’s position. According to a Politico report on Wednesday, citing five anonymous sources, the Trump administration is preparing a 90-day diesel export ban aimed at lowering persistently high energy prices amid mounting political pressure on Republicans ahead of the November congressional midterm elections. In response to the Politico report, U.S. diesel futures plunged sharply—falling more than 7% at one point. Meanwhile, European diesel futures surged. Subsequently, Reuters quoted a White House official posting on X (formerly Twitter) stating that Politico’s report about the U.S. government preparing a 90-day diesel export ban was inaccurate. U.S. diesel futures rebounded somewhat but failed to fully recover the losses triggered by the Politico report. Nonetheless, the administration’s public internal rift has cast significant uncertainty over the policy’s trajectory. Energy Secretary Chris Wright bluntly declared at The Economist’s New York event that banning diesel exports would “definitely not work,” warning it would force refineries to cut capacity—thereby pushing up gasoline and aviation fuel prices. The Department of Energy later issued a statement asserting that Wright was “fully aligned with the President” and that both were jointly exploring “all viable options” to reduce energy prices—in an apparent effort to downplay the disagreement. Soaring diesel prices and intensifying midterm election pressure U.S. diesel prices are at record highs. According to AAA data, the national average diesel price stood at $6.52 per gallon on Wednesday—up 76% year-on-year. This surge stems from the U.S.-Iran conflict and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which continue to tighten global diesel supply. Skyrocketing fuel costs have drawn widespread complaints from farmers and other diesel users—and have evolved into a core political challenge for Republicans. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has raised the issue of high diesel prices directly with the President, while Republican lawmakers representing highly competitive districts have also ramped up pressure demanding government action.

Wall Street Morning Briefing FM-Radio | September 23, 2026

- Wall Street commentary on Alibaba Cloud’s Qixi Conference: The 20 GW computing power target has been formally announced, lifting the revenue ceiling for cloud services. - From general-purpose AI to domain-specific intelligence, Qwen is accelerating its deployment of Personal Agents. Tencent’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose 5%! Meta’s AI Agent application Muse has gone viral, prompting a market re-rating of Tencent’s consumer-facing Agent ecosystem. Tencent’s sharp rally in Hong Kong is primarily driven by market analogies following Meta’s AI Agent app Muse gaining traction: WeChat—with its massive social and mini-program ecosystem—is viewed as the most promising domestic platform for launching a “Chinese version of Muse.” Investors are optimistic that Tencent can leverage its mini-programs and closed-loop payment system to lower friction in AI delivery—and capitalize on its distribution and ecosystem advantages to seize first-mover advantage in the B2C Agent race. Report: After reaching 200 million daily active users, Doubao is downsizing its conversational AI team. According to the report, Doubao is currently China’s most widely used AI application, with DAU exceeding 200 million. Yet commercialization bottlenecks for conversational products are becoming increasingly evident: multimodal features and free usage quotas are driving up costs, while Anthropic’s rapidly growing enterprise revenues are pushing major tech firms to shift focus from conversational AI toward enterprise services and monetization. Overseas Trump’s UN General Assembly speech: A U.S.-Iran deal may be reached after the midterms—and oil prices could plunge; AI policy will be “encouragement-only, no restrictions.” Trump stated he would never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, emphasized that major decisions regarding Iran are imminent—whether to strike a deal or “destroy” it—and called on other countries to economically isolate Iran. He added that if the Iran conflict ends, oil prices could even fall below pre-conflict levels; U.S. munitions stockpiles far exceed projected consumption; he opposes international agreements regulating AI, arguing that every major new technology brings immense challenges—but the U.S. will not slow AI development nor stifle a technology that could prove “even greater than the Industrial Revolution”; U.S. government documents will rename “artificial intelligence” as “superintelligence.” Trump expresses support for a diesel export ban—refining stocks under pressure. Trump said he has internally advocated for banning diesel exports and indicated a decision on implementation would come “very soon.” Treasury Secretary Bessent confirmed the administration is assessing the feasibility of a full or partial ban. This policy signal directly weighed on the refining sector: Jefferies downgraded Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum from “Buy” to “Hold” on the same day; the S&P 1500 Refining & Marketing Index fell for the second consecutive day. Given Trump’s long-standing emphasis on “American energy dominance” as a cornerstone of his agenda, this pivot toward export restrictions is widely interpreted by markets as a direct reflection of rising electoral pressure. Trump: U.S. officials met with an Iranian delegation on Tuesday—the meeting lasted three hours. The talks went smoothly, and another round has already been scheduled. - Iran says the meeting—between its foreign minister and a U.S. special envoy in New York—was held “at the U.S. side’s request.” “We have no way back!” The Middle East shockwave spreads: Trump’s rural midterm base is beginning to “crumble.” The U.S.-Iran war has now dragged on for nearly seven months, squeezing American farmers’ livelihoods through three converging pressures: surging diesel prices, tariffs inflating agricultural input costs, and export disruptions. The national average diesel price has climbed to $6.49 per gallon, and many farms’ fuel expenditures have vastly exceeded budgeted amounts. This cost crisis is now translating into political discontent, with signs of erosion emerging even in traditionally solid Republican rural voting blocs. Saudi Aramco has informally notified Asian refiners that crude loading operations at Yanbu port are set to resume.

Trump’s Push for a Diesel Export Ban Threatens to Squeeze Key US Allies

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President Trump proposes a diesel export ban affecting allies like Brazil and the UK amid Iran war supply constraints. Analysts warn this could spike global fuel prices and disrupt farming and mining sectors reliant on US supplies.

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Trump’s Push for a Diesel Export Ban Threatens to Squeeze Key US Allies

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