President Trump has directed the Pentagon to invoke a Cold War-era production law and release $150 million to expand American refining capacity as fuel prices stay high.
Speaking Thursday night in Iowa, President Donald Trump said he had ordered the War Department to use the 1950s Defense Production Act to boost oil production and put more diesel and gasoline on the market.
Earlier the same day he signed a memorandum directing War Secretary Pete Hegseth to put the law to work. The goal is clear: grow domestic petroleum infrastructure so the country is less exposed on fuel for the military, industry, and basic infrastructure.
The announcement came at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa. The Washington Examiner reported Trump’s intent to use the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic oil refining and ease pressure on record-high diesel and gasoline prices by increasing supply.
Just the News reported that the War Department will release $150 million to increase American refining capacity and produce more diesel and more gasoline. Trump tied the step to high gas prices ahead of the midterms and to national security needs.
The memorandum directs Hegseth to complete purchases, make commitments, and use financial instruments under the Cold War-era statute. That statute is the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended, a Korean War-era tool that lets the federal government prioritize industrial output and financing when leaders judge it essential to defense.
The order rests on section 303 of the act. Trump’s written determination frames domestic petroleum production, refining, and logistics capacity as matters of national defense. He argued the financial support and commitments available under the law are the quickest and most cost-effective way to meet the energy demands required for U.S. security.
In the order, Trump wrote:
"Petroleum fuels the Nation’s Armed Forces, industrial base, and crucial infrastructure,"
He added:
"Without immediate Federal action, United States defense capabilities will remain vulnerable to disruption."
The White House move fits a broader push to treat domestic fuel supply as a defense asset rather than a market afterthought. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, writing at Fox News, pointed to Trump’s Defense Production Act determinations on domestic petroleum, refining, logistics, and energy infrastructure as steps that raise production at home and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.
Dunleavy argued the answer for American families is increased output of reliable, affordable U.S. energy. He wrote that the latest determination continues work already underway and will make Americans more secure, help bring down gas prices for working families, and grow energy jobs in Alaska and across the country.
Dunleavy also noted Alaska’s proven reserves, 3.4 million barrels of oil and 125 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and cited congressional moves that cut royalty rates on federal lands and required new onshore and offshore leases, including in Alaska. Those details sit outside the Iowa speech itself, but they show how supporters link the refining order to a wider domestic-energy agenda.
The Defense Production Act is not a new invention. Passed in the early 1950s, it gives the executive branch tools to steer industry when leaders conclude national defense requires it. In this case, the memorandum tells the War Department to use those tools for petroleum production, refining, and logistics capacity.
Trump’s public message in Iowa was practical: free money and authority so refiners can expand, then get more diesel and gasoline onto the market. The written order is more formal. It casts oil and refined fuels as inputs the Armed Forces, the industrial base, and core infrastructure cannot do without, and warns that delay leaves defense capabilities open to disruption.
No full text of every term, recipient list, or spending schedule for the $150 million appeared in the initial reporting. The public record so far centers on the direction to Hegseth, the dollar figure for refining capacity, and the national-security language in the determination.
Trump cast the Iowa announcement against a simple backdrop: gas prices that remain high with the midterms approaching. The Washington Examiner account stressed record-high diesel and gasoline prices and the hope that more refining capacity would push those prices down by raising supply.
That is a supply-side play. More refining capacity means more finished fuel from domestic crude and infrastructure. The administration is using a defense statute to justify federal financial commitments and purchasing power aimed at that bottleneck, not another round of demand-side messaging.
Supporters will call it common sense. Fuel runs the military and the civilian economy. When prices stay elevated and refining is tight, waiting on distant suppliers is a strategic risk. The order puts federal muscle behind domestic capacity instead.
American strength still runs on fuel produced and refined at home, and a president willing to use the tools on the books to get it done.
