Trump in Ethanol-Friendly Iowa Pushes for Bill Boosting E15 Gasoline

January 28, 2026

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by Hadriana Lowenkron (Bloomberg/MSN) President Donald Trump threw his support behind a legislative proposal that would expand sales of higher-ethanol E15 gasoline as he looked to build support for his economic record with a crowd that included farmers in Iowa.

Trump told a rally near Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday that he was trusting congressional leaders to get a package approved that would enable sales of E15 gasoline year-round, effectively lifting limits that bar its sale in some areas during the summer. A measure proposed in Congress would tie that change to new restrictions scaling back the number of refineries that can get exemptions from annual quotas to use biofuels.

“I am trusting Speaker Mike Johnson, who is great, and Leader John Thune, who is great — that’s House and Senate — to find a deal that works — we’ve got it — for farmers, consumers and refiners, including small and mid-sized refiners,” Trump said, to cheers. “In other words, to get E15 approved. And they’re working on it. They’re very close to getting it done.”

Trump’s vow comes despite frictions over the drafted measure, which small refining advocates have warned threatens the economics of some fuel-making plants. It also represents a fresh bid by Trump to appeal to rural voters in Iowa, who helped usher him to victory in 2016 and 2024.

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House lawmakers have turned back a bid to add the E15 and refining provisions to a federal spending bill. Instead, they added a provision that would establish a rural domestic energy council to examine the issue, setting the stage for future legislation. The delay sparked an angry response from farm groups and biofuel supporters that have long campaigned for changes that would expand the domestic ethanol market.

Separately Tuesday, Trump touted trade deals he said would enable more ethanol sales to the UK and Japan.

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This year, Iowa will host high-profile races for the House and for a Senate seat being opened up by the retirement of Republican Joni Ernst. READ MORE; includes VIDEO

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Trump Says Year-Round E15 Deal is Close to Done, Announces Two New Deere Facilities in U.S. (AgWeb; includes VIDEO and AUDIO)
Trump steps up for ethanol in Iowa: President Donald Trump said congressional leaders are close to a deal he’d sign to make E15 fuel available year-round. (E&E Daily)
Trump touts benefits of tariffs, support for year-round E15 during Iowa visit -- Top USDA trade official meets with Iowa farmers (Agri-Pulse)
Oil industry rift sets roadblock for year-round E15: The latest failed attempt to expand ethanol’s share of the U.S. gas tank is putting divisions within the petroleum oil industry on full display. (Agri-Pulse)
Navarro: We’re Using Ethanol to ‘Domesticate’ Corn Demand Because China Cancels Purchases When We Have Tariffs (Breitbart)
Opinion: Republicans turned their back on farm country, working people (Representative Angie Craig (MN 2nd)/Agri-Pulse)
Werner: year-round E15 could bring clarity to SRE impacts and RIN markets (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
RFA Applauds President Trump’s Call for Congressional Action on Year-Round E15 (Renewable Fuels Association)

Excerpt from AgWeb: Standing in front of a packed crowd in Clive, Iowa, with signs posted on the stage and scattered throughout the crowd that said “lower prices” and “bigger paychecks,” the visit unofficially kicked off the midterm elections where costs for consumers are expected to be one of the main political talking points.

While in Iowa, President Trump highlighted what the White House calls improving economic conditions for Iowa families, pointing to lower fuel prices, tax savings and agriculture-driven growth as signs the state is “winning again.” The President touted all the trade wins, including China buying soybeans and the EU agreeing to buy U.S. ethanol. He says by removing those trade barriers, exports are starting to flow to countries that had stopped buying U.S. ag goods before he took office.

But the reality is agriculture is at a crossroads, especially on the row crop side. Even with the recent trade deals, current economic pressures are creating a crisis in agriculture. Trump did briefly mention that crisis, blaming it on former President Joe Biden.

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During his speech in Iowa, President Trump reaffirmed his campaign promise to support year-round E15, signaling a major win for corn growers and the ethanol industry.

“But I’m also working hard to expand your markets domestically,” Trump says. “In the campaign, I promised to support E15 all year round. I did. E15 all year round if I get elected, and I want to let you know, we’ll start right now.”

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“And I will sign it without delay.”

The president framed year-round E15 as a key part of his broader strategy to expand markets for U.S. corn, support rural communities, and strengthen domestic energy production.

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But with strains in the farm economy, farm equipment sales saw a steep decline in 2025. Deere and Company, which has a large footprint in the Quad Cities and Des Moines, has laid off over 3,500 employees since October 2023. That downsizing, which the company says is driven by decreasing demand and lower sales, has hit the company’s manufacturing facilities hard, including locations in Waterloo and Ankeny.

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“What we hear from the team around the president is he did what he could,” Skor (Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy) told Chip Flory during “AgriTalk” on Tuesday. “He issued an executive order. EPA gave us the summer waivers for last summer. We all know that what we need right now is an act of Congress.”

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Skor says the White House wants lawmakers to deliver a bill that can be signed into law and end the seasonal E15 debate for good.

“The conversation has to be ‘Congress, do your job,’” she says. “The White House wants to see Congress get something done so they can bring a bill to his desk, so he can sign it and we can be done with this once and for all.”

That urgency is being echoed across agriculture, she says.

“I’ve got CEOs of all kinds of agriculture trade groups calling me saying: ‘What can we do to be helpful? We’ve got to get this done,’” Skor says. “All of agriculture is supportive of this.”

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To make the push even more visible, Iowa Corn and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) released an open letter on Tuesday, thanking the president for his past support of E15 and urging him to help push the policy across the finish line in Congress, while also running a full-page ad in Tuesday’s “Des Moines Register”.

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According to the letter, corn growers across the country, and especially in Iowa, are struggling as prices remain well below the cost of production. That pressure, they say, is rippling through the broader state economy.

The groups cite recent data from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, which ranked Iowa 50th among states for economic growth. They say expanding E15 is one of the fastest ways to reverse that trend.

“The best way to boost corn prices and create meaningful market demand is the immediate authorization of nationwide, year-round E15,” the letter states.

After Trump’s announcement on Tuesday, saying a deal is close, Iowa Corn Growers Association Vice President and farmer from Knoxville, Iowa, Steve Kuiper, expressed Iowa Corn’s appreciation, while highlighting what this could mean for farmers at a critical time.

“Iowa’s corn growers appreciate President Trump shining light on E15 and recognizing the weight this legislation holds to us as corn growers. Farmers are struggling with low commodity prices, high input costs and lack of markets. Passage of year-round E15 is the lifeline many of us need to be able to continue farming,” says Kuiper. “A recent study by Iowa Corn and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association shared the positive effects year-round E15 would mean for corn growers. This is a goal we have been working towards for over a decade and getting this issue to the president’s desk and across the finish line is a win we all desperately need. The fact that the President sees this problem and promises a solution is coming is very encouraging and valued by us as farmers.”

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Leading up to today’s statements by Trump, both Iowa Corn and Iowa Renewable Fuels reminded the Trump administration that year-round E15 would immediately expand domestic demand for corn at a time when farmers are under intense financial pressure. Even with the latest round of financial aid through the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program payments, 92% of agricultural economists surveyed in Farm Journal’s December Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor said the row crop side of agriculture is in a recession. More than 90% said that will accelerate consolidation in agriculture — something Iowa agriculture is seeing firsthand.

Biofuels Seen as Economic Pressure Point and Opportunity

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“So, what we want to do is highlight for the president the EPA’s efforts to finalize the renewable volume obligations under the RFS as an opportunity to provide market certainty and growth for our industry, as well as finalizing the 45Z clean fuel production tax credit guidance, which we do not yet have.”

That certainty, Kovarik (Kurt Kovarik, vice president of federal affairs at Clean Fuels Alliance America) says, has been missing, and the consequences have been felt across rural America.

“Our industry had a really, really tough 2025,” he says. “Following a really great ’24, ’25 was really poor, as it was along the farm economy.”

He says the downturn wasn’t driven by demand alone, but by uncertainty around federal policy.

“It was a lack of profit, lack of margin, which meant reduced capacity,” Kovarik says. “In fact, we’ve had a lot of plants idling.”

After producing more than 5 billion gallons of clean fuels domestically in 2024, Kovarik says output dropped sharply in 2025. Plants across the industry operated at just 60% to 70% of capacity.

“In some cases that may be a plant dialing back to 80%,” he says. “In a lot of cases, particularly the smaller plants, maybe in Iowa, those that don’t produce their own feedstock came offline entirely.”

But it’s not just corn at a crossroads. He says that slowdown directly affects farm demand, especially for soybean oil.

“If our industry got those two things in the near term, we would flip around this industry nearly immediately,” Kovarik says. “Turn these plants back on, buy more soybean oil, add value to the soybean farmer and get this fuel to the consumer.”

Kovarik points to renewable volume obligations as a key pressure point. Under the Biden administration’s final three-year RFS rule, biomass-based diesel volumes for 2025 were set at 3.35 billion gallons — well below what the industry was capable of producing.

“We produced over 5 billion gallons in 2024,” he says. “So, that’s part of the reason our industry had a tough year.”

Looking ahead, Clean Fuels, petroleum refiners and agriculture groups asked EPA to raise 2026 volumes to 5.25 billion gallons. EPA’s proposal came in even higher.

“EPA actually proposed an estimate around 5.6 billion gallons,” Kovarik says. “They were even above ours.”

If final numbers land near that range, Kovarik says it would send a powerful market signal.

“Our feeling is if it comes down anywhere in the neighborhood between what we asked and what EPA proposed, it’s going to be a very, very strong market signal,” he says.

Timing matters, too. Kovarik says EPA has indicated the rule could be finalized soon.

“Our expectation is EPA is committed to have it done within the first quarter of 2026 — that means the end of March,” he says. “Hopefully early- to mid-March.”

As corn growers push for year-round E15 and broader biofuels support during Trump’s Iowa visit, Kovarik says optimism is returning, even after a difficult year.

“Although most folks are really feeling bad about how ’25 was, they’re also very optimistic about 2026,” he says. “Because of what we feel we’re on the cusp of.”

Corn Growers Disgusted as Congress Leaves E15 Out of Government Spending Bills

Just last week, E15 and corn groups were dealt a blow. That’s because year-round E15 was left out of the latest spending package, something corn and renewable fuels groups had been pushing to get included in the latest bill.

When asked how year-round E15 failed to advance earlier this year, Skor points to political realities inside the House.

“Parochial politics,” Skor said on AgriTalk Tuesday. “It’s incredibly frustrating.”

Despite broad ag support and mounting corn supplies, Skor says narrow vote margins and competing interests stalled progress.

“We have been a chorus saying, ‘We want markets, not handouts. We want markets,’” she says. “Look at how much corn we’ve grown in the U.S. We need to find markets.”

Skor says House leadership ultimately pulled the issue from budget negotiations due to concerns over securing enough votes, particularly from members tied to small refinery interests.

“He knew that he could not get the votes he needed to pass the budget,” she says. “So he said, ‘We’re going to table this. We’re going to create a council. We’re going to deal with this separately.’ And that’s what happened.”

Looking ahead, Skor says attaching year-round E15 to a must-pass spending bill remains possible, but unlikely in the near term. READ MORE; includes AUDIO and VIDEO

Excerpt from E&E Daily: Trump also mentioned small and midsize refiners, many of whom have reservations about expanding the renewable fuel standard’s biofuel mandates, as well as making E15 more available. They’re seeking assurances that Congress will also help small refiners more easily obtain hardship waivers from biofuel blending requirements.

The president said he expects Thune and Johnson to find a deal that works and added: “They’re very close to getting it done.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Breitbart: White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter) Navarro said, “Think of it this way: Soybean farmers and corn farmers are often the same people. They rotate their crops. They grow a lot of that stuff, and they’ll grow a lot of it in Iowa. And what happens every time President Trump puts tariffs on? China cancels all its purchases of both corn and soybeans. So we’ve got an initiative here at the White House, which is not only to domesticate, essentially, the demand for corn through the ethanol program. There’s a companion program to do it with soybeans as well.”

Navarro continued, “And it’s a high strategic way, and it’s the way the President operates. And it’s going to give farmers — who he always has the back of — a great comfort, and it’s going to be able to liberate, essentially, our tariff policies from the kind of blackmail that China’s practicing.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Representative Angie Criag (MN 2nd)/Agri-Pulse: House Republicans’ failure to include farm and family relief and year-round E15 in the government funding bills that just passed through the House of Representatives is proof that they have no desire to do the job they were sent to Washington to do.

Farming isn’t easy work, but it’s honest work. The hours are long, operating costs are increasing and profit margins are tight (when there are profits to be made at all). The Trump administration’s approach to trade has made their work even harder. Tariffs have inflated input costs and shut U.S. producers out of foreign markets and hit working people right in the pocketbook. The cost of groceries has skyrocketed while Republicans have slashed food assistance through their One Big Beautiful Bill. That means fewer Americans buying American-grown food.

It's a perfect storm for farm families, and Congress had a perfect opportunity to address it: the appropriations package, which passed the House on Thursday. As the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, I put my Farm and Family Relief Act on the table for consideration in the latest spending package and Republicans balked. And I’ve been pushing for year-round E15 since I came to Congress eight years ago. Big Oil stopped it – again.

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Year-round E15 – growing our domestic markets - would be an immediate help to farmers struggling with shifting markets and low profit margins, not to mention it would lower prices for Americans at the pump.

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Oil state Republican senators worked behind the scenes to kill E15, and Midwestern Republicans folded again – all while the White House stayed silent and watched it all happen. Republicans and President Trump really should just stop talking about how much they love farmers at this point. They love Big Oil more.

Instead of walking away with year-round E15, we walked away with a promise by Republican leadership to “study” the issue. Seriously?

Is that the job the American people sent them to Congress to do? I don’t think so. READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: The director of the Minnesota Biofuels Association suggests certainty on year-round nationwide E15 could expedite renewable volume obligations for 2026 and 2027.

Brian Werner tells Brownfield E15 legislation could include changes to EPA’s small refinery exemption process.

“Which I think would also help us to kind of better forecast what the potential RIN impacts will be from the SRE program. Being able to kind of forecast that while including E15 I think would just give all market participants more certainty about what the volumes are going to be.”

He tells Brownfield year-round E15 would be a significant demand boost for ethanol.

“But also the demand decreases potentially from SRE’s going forward. So I think just having more information and having more certainty is just always going to be a better thing for all market participants, both renewable fuel producers but also refiners as well.”

The EPA has yet to finalize its proposed renewable fuel standards for 2026 and 2027 that were announced last June. READ MORE; includes AUDIO