Trump Ties Ethanol Boon for Farmers to a Marshall Win: ‘I’m Only Doing It for Him,’ Trump Says about Making Year-Round E15 Permanent

October 21, 2026

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by Niels Lesniewski and David Jordan (Roll Call) ... (President Donald) Trump made the proclamation Monday while stumping for the embattled Sen. Roger Marshall, who’s trying to avoid being the first Republican in his state (Kansas) to lose a Senate race in 94 years, in his race against pastor and first-time political candidate Adam Hamilton, a Democrat.

“With Roger Marshall in the Senate, we will make year-round E15 permanent. But if Adam Hamilton is in, I’m not doing it,” Trump said. “That’s it. I’m only doing it for him.”

Republican lawmakers and candidates from well beyond Kansas have been advocating for changing the law to allow the year-round sale of E15 gasoline, which contains more ethanol blended in than the typical 10 percent ethanol content. E15 sales in the summer can be permitted under current law with an EPA waiver.

It was not immediately clear if Trump would block such waivers in the summer of 2027 if Marshall loses, or if he would oppose enactment of the Senate’s farm bill provision that would amend the Clean Air Act to make E15 blends generally permissible. That’s a big deal to the corn ethanol industry as it would provide certainty that more of their product can get to market without relying on EPA determinations.

The president has also mentioned the ethanol issue in a video message endorsing Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, for reelection.

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Trump has already endorsed year-round E15, signing an executive order on the first day of his second term to require the EPA to grant annual summer waivers.

But oil refiners, who are on the hook to demonstrate compliance with renewable fuel mandates even if consumers don’t want to purchase E15 or have vehicles that can support the higher-octane fuel, oppose codifying a permanent waiver. They’re willing to consider a deal allowing year-round E15, but only in exchange for more generous relief from quotas under the renewable fuel standard, or RFS.

In May, after farm groups and representatives of oil producers, marketers and larger refiners reached a deal with House leadership, the House voted on a bill that would amend the CAA to allow year-round E15. The bill would also provide certainty for smaller oil refiners by getting rid of the annual EPA exemption process, instead creating a system of permanent exemptions starting in 2028 while getting of annual reallocations of exempted blending obligations to larger, non-exempt refineries.

But it would also tighten the definition of small refiner by applying the current 75,000 daily production cap per refinery across all of a parent company’s facilities, which would impact firms with smaller refineries in multiple locations.

The bill passed 218-203, with the split falling along geographic lines as many oil and refinery state members voted against the bill — including Louisiana Republicans Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, Renewable Fuels Association and American Petroleum Institute all supported the bill. However, some smaller and midsize refiners, including those represented by the Fueling American Jobs Coalition and Small Refineries of America, argued that the bill could force more than 20 refineries out of business because of new exemption caps and changes to the definition of small refinery.

The Senate Agriculture Committee included year-round E15 in its version of the farm bill, which the panel approved 12-11 on Sept. 16, along with some RFS changes intended to ease small refiners’ burden. That legislation also would create a permanent program of small-refiner exemptions, but without the House’s bill’s tighter eligibility definition.

Still, some oil industry players that backed the House’s E15 bill opposed the Senate language, which provides more modest reallocation relief to non-exempt refineries. Key GOP senators whose constituents include oil refineries, such as Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming and Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz of Texas, haven’t publicly commented on the Senate’s E15 compromise.

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Unlike the president’s comments on E15 regarding post-election activity, it appears the farm aid program will get underway immediately, with a notice from the Agriculture Department saying potential farmer beneficiaries should make sure they have up-to-date Login.gov credentials ahead of the rollout.

According to AAA, diesel prices remain above $6 per gallon in Kansas. That’s compared to about $3.39 per gallon just one year ago. READ MORE

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Excerpt from 2 Paragraphs: President Trump said at a rally in Park City, Kansas, on October 19, “With Roger Marshall in the Senate, we will make year-round E15 permanent. But if Adam Hamilton is in, I’m not doing it.” He added of the incumbent Republican Senator Marshall, “I’m only doing it for him. That’s a big deal for Kansas.”

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A Hamilton spokesperson responded to Trump’s comments: “Blackmailing Kansans for our votes is Washington at its worst. We deserve leaders who work for all Kansans, no matter what political party we’re in. Roger Marshall has been in Congress for ten years and never passed year-round E15.”

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Oil refiners oppose a permanent change, and small refiner groups argue the House bill could force more than 20 refineries out of business. The Renewable Fuels Association supported the House bill.

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The Kansas remark is one of several. The AP’s October 30 account says that in Vandalia, Ohio, Trump said: “when you are president, you have a lot of power over states.” Of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, he said: “I’m not gonna help her probably.”

Addie Bullock, Acton’s campaign spokesperson, said Acton is “committed to working with anyone, Democrat or Republican.”

In Perry, Georgia, Trump imagined Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff calling to ask for money: “I don’t give a damn what he wants.” Ossoff told the AP: “It’s a losing strategy for the failed president to insult and threaten voters while he’s in town reminding them he made everything more expensive.”

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Another White House official said Trump wants to keep a Republican majority so “he can continue to deliver on his winning, commonsense agenda.” And Trump’s pledge of $5,000 to adults, per Moneywise, comes with a condition.

“If you elect a Republican House and Senate on November 3, you’ll get $5,000,” he said, and “if we lose, you get nothing.” READ MORE

Excerpt from NBC News: Year-round E15 sales

During a campaign stop in Kansas, Trump linked Republican victories to the year-round sale of E15 fuel — a blend that contains 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline that typically can’t be sold during the summer because it doesn’t meet certain requirements under the Clean Air Act.

The fuel generally sells for a bit less than other blends of gas and would increase demand for ethanol, a win for corn farmers in the Midwest.

Trump said that if Republican Sen. Roger Marshall didn’t win in Kansas, he wouldn’t allow for the year-round sale of E15.

“With Roger Marshall in the Senate, we will make year-round E15 permanent. But if Adam Hamilton is in, I’m not doing it. That’s it. I’m only doing it for him,” Trump said during a campaign rally in Park City on Oct. 19.

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Marshall lost to Hamilton, who became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Kansas in 94 years.

During times of high gas prices or disruptions to fuel supplies, presidents can issue emergency waivers during summer months so gas stations can keep selling E15, which Trump did this summer, citing the disruption to oil flowing out of the Middle East amid the war with Iran. The waivers are nationwide and don’t apply to a certain state.

Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said he took Trump’s remarks as a joke, given the president’s slightly playful tone at the rally. He said the president has long been a supporter of year-round E15 sales.

“I have zero worries that if we can find a way to get it through Congress, that he’s going to somehow not sign it into law,” Shaw said. “The president has not been our challenge on this.”

To make E15 fuel permanently available, Congress would have to pass legislation. The House passed a bill in May that would do so, and the Senate has its own version in a farm bill making its way through the legislative process. Industry groups pushing for expanded E15 sales said they are hopeful they can get legislation signed into law before the end of the year. But even with Democrats in control of Congress next year, they still see a path, given past Democratic support for the issue, though the oil industry and some environmental groups oppose it.

“If Congress fails to act on the legislation before the end of the year, we are highly confident that there would be opportunities in the next Congress,” Geoff Cooper, the CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, which advocates for the ethanol industry, said in a statement. “Nationwide access to lower-cost E15 is an affordability issue, which is why the legislation has strong bipartisan support.” READ MORE