President Trump signed an executive order aimed at bringing down diesel prices by easing restrictions on red-dye diesel. NBC News' Brian Cheung breaks down what is in the order and what it means for Americans.
Page F2From§Eachthe milkman edition — 7 October 2026
Fuel industry warns against red-dye diesel fraud days after Trump legalizes it
As it ran on the front
The federal rule keeping tax-exempt red-dye diesel off the public highway died this week, not of old age but of an executive order, in the middle of a price fight the rule had nothing to do with starting.
On September 4, diesel hit $5.85 a gallon, a record, as the administration's own confrontation with Iran rattled the fuel market. Nine days later, in Doonbeg, the president offered a different explanation: Ukraine, he said, was to blame, for striking Russian refineries, and he told President Zelenskyy to stop. Eight days after that, on September 21, the diagnosis changed again. Russia, the president wrote, had "lost control" of its own diesel industry — a second culprit assigned to the same number, the first one quietly dropped.…
…(cont) Then, on October 6, the remedy arrived, and it was not foreign at all. An executive order eased the restrictions on red-dye diesel — the fuel sold untaxed for farm tractors and off-road generators, cheap because it never pays into the highway fund, policed at the pump by its color so a trooper does not need a manifest to know it skipped the tax line. Ease the restriction and that same fuel sits one tank away from a highway rig, tax-free, same color, same price advantage, no road built.
What the order did not anticipate was the eulogy that followed it, delivered by the one party positioned to profit. On October 7, the fuel industry itself warned truck stops off the opening it had just been handed. "We do not expect most reputable diesel retailers and fuel marketers to do this," the industry said. "There's limited upside." The beneficiaries looked at the gift and told the cashiers to leave it on the shelf.
That is a strange funeral — the mourner is the industry the rule was written to restrain, warning its own membership off a loophole the government just cut for them. The enforcement here was never really the dye. The dye was cheap and the fine print was clear; what enforced it was the plain fact that somebody might check the tank. Take the rule away and you have not deregulated a color, you have told every retailer in the country that the only thing standing between them and a cheaper tank is their own restraint. That is not a policy. That is penny-ante trust dressed up as a fix for a price the order never addresses.
The rule is survived by a diesel price that the order does nothing to lower and a highway fund that will not notice the hole until the bridge does. It is preceded in death by the record itself, set in September, blamed in three directions by October, fixed in none of them. In lieu of flowers, enforce the dye.
“They tell you the dye rule got in the way of cheap diesel, but the diesel got expensive from wars this administration picked, and the fix they shipped has nothing to do with Iran or Ukraine or Russia — it just makes tax fraud at the pump legal. The industry itself is telling its own members don't touch this, which means even the guys who'd profit know it's a scam dressed as relief. Watch the highway fund in a year and tell me who pays for that bridge.”
“Look, easing a dye rule isn't the same as repealing it — the statute's still on the books, we just, we gave the market some flexibility. And the industry's warning proves the system's self-regulating, that's not a loophole, that's responsible business behavior — did I just credit the free market for cleaning up after an executive order? That's not — that's actually a pretty good point for us, forget I said the self-regulating part.”
Earlier in this story
- Trump dyes diesel exempt without Congress, then floats a gas tax cut only Congress can grant. By Ruth · the supper edition, 6 October 2026
- White House expands red-dye diesel tax break onto equipment already exempt, calls it relief from record prices By Ruth · the early bird edition, 6 October 2026
- Hegseth vows no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, then opens Pentagon's new Office of Religious Affairs By Chip · the matinee edition, 3 October 2026
- Officials meet at Camp David to find a path forward; Tehran's leads out of the nonproliferation treaty By Lou · the noon edition, 3 October 2026
- Trump vows to 'hit them hard' in Iran, then pencils in the hit for after the midterms By Lou · the coffee break edition, 3 October 2026
- Trump says Iran is "ready to fold up," orders third aircraft carrier toward the Gulf anyway. By Sal · the milkman edition, 2 October 2026
The receipts
“We do not expect most reputable diesel retailers and fuel marketers to do this,” said several industry groups. “There’s limited upside.”
· Trump blames Ukraine for diesel fuel price spike, urges Zelensky to stop hitting Russian refineries from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026
· 'Trump Did It!': At $5.85 a Gallon, Diesel Price Hits All-Time High in US Thanks to War on Iran from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Trump: Russia has ‘lost control’ of its diesel industry as prices soar from the morgue, 21 Sep 2026
· Russia’s Lavrov blasts US, Western allies as “warmongers’ in fiery UN tirade from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· Russia and China unite against US over Iran and Cuba in UN speeches from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· U.S. military lays groundwork for potential action around Cuba from the morgue, 26 Sep 2026
· The United Nations Security Council has resoundingly rejected a United States bid to extend a global arms embargo on Iran. In a Security Council vote, United States only got support from the Dominican from the morgue, 14 Aug 2020
· U.S. Threatens New Economic War on Iran by Targeting China & Tehran's Other Top Trading Partners from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026
· In Defiant UN Speech, Iranian President Says US and Israel Are the Real Terrorists from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Trump slams reporting on removal of his endorsements from GOP candidate's website from the morgue, 27 Sep 2026
· Donalds removes several Trump mentions from campaign website from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· GOP hopeful removes ‘Pro-Trump’ mention from campaign slogan in deep-red seat from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Where Trump’s 2026 endorsement record stands after primary season from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· U.N. experts say U.S. may have committed war crimes with 2 Iran strikes from the morgue, 22 Sep 2026
· Trump Says 'Big Decision' Coming on Whether to 'Annihilate' Iran from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Pentagon No. 3 frustrates senators in closed-door briefing on Iran war, Trump defense strategy from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Senate Democrats, minus Fetterman, urge Hegseth to provide receipt for Iran war costs from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Hegseth on "devastation" to Iran's capabilities from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Trump admits Iran war will not end before midterms from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Iran War Trump Said Would Be Quick Has Now Lasted 6 Months With 'No End In Sight' from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· CBO Finds Trump's Iran War Has Already Cost Nearly $40 Billion—And That's a 'Conservative' Estimate from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Tillis supports Hegseth impeachment resolution: 'He needs to go' from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Massie Files Impeachment Articles Against Hegseth for Illegal Iran War, Boat Murders from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Massie launches effort to impeach Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Tillis urges Trump to fire Hegseth over 'inept management' of military from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Tillis renews calls for Hegseth’s firing after Driscoll’s departure: ‘I have never witnessed more inept management’ from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· Farmer who voted for Trump says farmers are "all just in survival mode" from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Farmer who voted for Trump says "I can't stay in business" amid rising costs from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Massie says he’s convinced enough Republicans to pass Epstein Files II discharge petition from the morgue, 18 Sep 2026
· Massie names Epstein 'coconspirators,' discusses new Epstein files legislation from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Read Thomas Massie’s eight impeachment charges against Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Fake Republican midterm convention site still redirects to Epstein files from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026
· Trump says he has a ‘big decision’ coming up on Iran: ‘Do I want to go in and annihilate them’ from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Fox News Poll: 71% think Trump administration lacks plan to end Iran war from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Iran recently downed at least 2 American drones, officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Big Oil Stocks Surged Due to Iran War—and New Filings Show How President Trump Cashed In from the morgue, 27 Aug 2026
· Live updates: Energy secretary downplays rising gas prices as US, Iran trade strikes from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· U.S. Strike on Iranian School May Have Been War Crime, U.N. Report Says from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· UN Inquiry Finds US Strike on Minab, Iran That Killed 123 Children Was War Crime from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· UN investigators conclude ‘reasonable grounds’ to believe certain US strikes in Iran were war crimes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· UN Suspects US War Crimes in Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· US Condemned for 'War Crimes' After Bombing of Wedding Party in Iran from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026
· US investigating if missile hit Iranian wedding ceremony, killing 4 from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Trump says he has a ‘big decision coming up’ on Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· White House issues explosive response to UN-backed report claiming US committed war crimes against world’s No.1 sponsor of terror, Iran from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Human rights experts: 'Reasonable grounds' to believe US committed war crimes with Iran strikes from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· US Energy Consumers Have Spent $121 Billion Extra Since Trump Launched Iran War: Moody's from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Iran downed at least 2 American drones in recent days, U.S. officials say from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Iran: Account of US Air Force colonel's rescue 'fictional' from the morgue, 17 Sep 2026
· Consumer Burden of Trump Iran War Exceeds $100 Billion as Oil Prices Pass $100 a Barrel from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· 'A Serious and Alarming Threat': US Bombing, Blockade Deepen Iran Medical Crisis from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Consumer Confidence Hits Lowest Level in Months as US Faces 'Trump's Reckless Tariffs and War With Iran' from the morgue, 25 Aug 2026
· U.S. Air Force officer rescued from Iran speaks for the first time to 60 Minutes from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Rep. Thomas Massie forcing vote on Pete Hegseth's impeachment from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Did Johnson Just Adjourn Congress for 7 Weeks to Avoid Massie's Impeachment Articles Against Hegseth? from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Massie saying Johnson is sending the House home early to prevent Hegseth impeachment from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· ‘You’re Elected to Fight and Kill the Other Side’: How Congress Lost Its Way from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Army combat veteran challenging Mike Lawler calls Hegseth national security 'hazard,' backs impeachment from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· Former Air Force secretary says he 'couldn't serve' in Trump administration from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026
· Former Air Force secretary: Hegseth's Pentagon 'dysfunctional' from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· House Republicans split over leaving Washington early for campaign trail from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· Since 2025, Trump Made More Stock Trades Than All 535 Congress Members Combined from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Fossil Fuel Advertising Contracts Hit Record High as Big Oil Pockets Billions From Iran War from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· 'How are we gonna get through this?' Many Americans are struggling as prices rise from the morgue, 16 Sep 2026
· Trump's Top Oil Stocks Have Made Him Up to $4.4 Million Richer During Iran War: Analysis from the morgue, 9 Sep 2026
· Gas prices reach Labor Day high amid Iran war from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Trump Hammered Over Iran War That Drove Gas Prices Above $4 Per Gallon Every Day in August for First Time Ever from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Warsh under pressure as Fed weighs rate hike from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Inflation held at 3.4% in August in consumer price index, creating tough choice for Warsh Fed from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026
· Warsh indicates Fed could raise rates to cool inflation from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· Key U.S. Bond Rate Near 20-Year High as Oil Prices Keep Climbing from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· 10-year Treasury yield hits highest level since 2007, oil surges above $105 as Fed expected to hike interest rates from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Benchmark mortgage rate hits 14-month high as bond yields keep rising from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· Benchmark mortgage rate hits highest mark in over a year from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Goldman Sachs warns oil prices could hit $120 as U.S. fuel costs surge from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
· Massie Moves to Force Impeachment Vote Against Hegseth, Citing Civilian Deaths from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· GOP Rep Thomas Massie introduces 8 articles of impeachment against War Secretary Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Republican Rep. Massie moves to impeach Defense Secretary Hegseth over Iran war from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Thomas Massie Forces Vote To Impeach Pete Hegseth from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Pete Hegseth Faces Growing Criticism as War With Iran Rolls On from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Hegseth Quietly Extends Middle East Troop Deployments Into 2027 as Iran War Drags On from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Costco imposes purchase limits on motor oil, hikes prices by nearly double from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.