Trump Signed Order Promoting Cancer-Linked Glyphosate Weedkiller and Phosphorus, Weapon of War

One of the movements that propelled Trump to power a second time was "MAHA" or "Make America Healthy Again." Followers of MAHA believed that Trump would elevate U.S. public health by doing things like banning toxic chemicals from foods and agriculture. In particular, they hoped he would ban glyphosate - a toxic weedkiller that the World Health Organization has labeled "probably carcinogenic." Traces of glyphosate can be found in everything, from cereals and snacks to water supplies.

Instead, Trump has just done the exact opposite. In February 2026, he signed an executive order - not to ban glyphosate, but to increase its production in the U.S. and even to shield its manufacturers from health lawsuits by providing limited legal immunity.

Sign the petition to demand Trump revoke this executive order immediately!

Bayer - the parent company for Monsanto, which produces an infamous glyphosate-filled weedkiller called RoundUp - has spent years lobbying Congress and state lawmakers, trying to protect itself from legal liability. Bayer and Monsanto have had to face around 200,000 claims that its glyphosate products caused cancers. In one class-action lawsuit, they were ordered to pay $2.1 billion to those affected; they've offered another $7.25 billion in a separate class-action lawsuit. So, receiving Trump's limited immunity must be a dream come true for this dangerous corporation.

All of that is already bad enough. But it turns out there are even more insidious forces at play. New reporting shows that part of Trump's motivation for protecting glyphosate wasn't just to play nice with corporations. It was also to promote military weapons. One of the ingredients used to make glyphosate is an element called phosphorus, specifically white phosphorus. White phosphorus is flammable and spontaneously self-igniting - so it's not only used to make weedkillers, but also to create munitions and other weapons.

As a weapon, white phosphorus can create smoke screens and incendiary devices. It can also burn its way through solid metal, and even burn people.

As Bonnie Docherty, a senior adviser at Human Rights Watch and a program director at Harvard Law School, explains: white phosphorus "has horrible humanitarian consequences ... It causes really deep burns. It's notorious because it burns when exposed to oxygen, and wounds often reignite when bandages are removed."

So now we know. When Donald Trump turned his back on the MAHA movement, he not only cozied up to corporations by protecting chemicals linked to cancer. He was also protecting a weapon of war.

According to Trump, this was all done to protect U.S. national security. But food that's poisoned with cancer-causing chemicals isn't a good food supply, or a good defense strategy. Likewise, committing humanitarian atrocities isn't a good defense strategy, either.

This is not good for the American people and it isn't good for the world. Demand Trump immediately revoke this disgusting executive order, now! Sign the petition!