Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is defending Trump’s executive order promoting the domestic production of phosphorus and glyphosate, a chemical many say is harmful to human health.
On Wednesday, Trump signed an order adjuring the Defense Protection Act to ramp up production of the herbicide because, he claimed, it is important for defense and food security.
“I find that ensuring robust domestic elemental phosphorus mining and United States-based production of glyphosate-based herbicides is central to American economic and national security,” Trump wrote in the order. “Without immediate Federal action, the United States remains inadequately equipped and vulnerable.”
The chemical has been used in U.S. agriculture for decades, but has also been pointed at as the cause of cancer in humans. Bayer, the company that makes Roundup weedkiller recently offered $7.25 billion to settle lawsuits revolving around cancer claims.
Phosphorus, also a subject of the executive order, is used to make glyphosate and to manufacture military equipment.
The Make America Healthy Again movement, led by RFK, Jr. reacted to the order and its leader’s defense of it. MAHA is leery of some of the biggest industries in the country including pharma, the chemical industry, and agriculture. Although the right has traditionally been a fan of big business, MAHA is mostly aligned with the GOP.
Kennedy took to X to defend Trump’s order but began with his belief that pesticides may cause health issues. But, he maintained that they’re necessary for the food supply.
I will always tell the American people the truth.
Pesticides and herbicides are toxic by design, engineered to kill living organisms. When we apply them across millions of acres and allow them into our food system, we put Americans at risk. Chemical manufacturers have paid tens…
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) February 23, 2026
“Pesticides and herbicides are toxic by design, engineered to kill living organisms. When we apply them across millions of acres and allow them into our food system, we put Americans at risk,” Kennedy wrote.
“I support President Trump’s Executive Order to bring agricultural chemical production back to the United States and end out near-total reliance on adversarial nations,” he continued.
But, Zen Honeycutt, the founder of Moms Across America responded to Kennedy expressing displeasure in the administration’s failure to address pesticide exposure.
“It’s been a year. Not a single thing has been done by the EPA to reduce our children’s and families [sic] exposure to pesticides,” she wrote. “There is no excuse. We love you Bobby but this administration needs to keep their word. We were promised specifically clean air, clean water, and addressing of the pesticides [in] our foods,” she continued.
Last year, a petition was circulated by activists calling for EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to resign over the administration’s chemical policies.
