Louisiana governor Jeff Landry’s opinion of Donald Trump is well-documented. He has described him as “one of the greatest Presidents in our country’s history,” said he thinks “divine intervention” saved Trump from an assassin’s bullet, and believes “only Donald Trump” can resurrect the American Dream.
All of which makes it a little awkward that Landry has now placed Louisiana under an official state of emergency in response to record-high diesel prices caused by Donald Trump’s war with Iran. As reported by WBRZ2, Landry’s executive order JML 26-090 details that “the average retail price of diesel fuel in Louisiana is at an all-time high of $6.03 per gallon.”
He adds, “a state of emergency is hereby declared to exist in the State of Louisiana as a result of the emergency conditions created by the shortage of distillate fuel supply”, and that this state of emergency will last until Oct. 22, 2026.
“A state of emergency is hereby declared”
The order itself does not mention the root cause of the high diesel prices, which are a direct consequence of the Trump administration’s war with Iran. As the Financial Times explained, “US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock”, pointing to the ongoing chaos in the Strait of Hormuz and reduced exports from the Middle East as the reason why this is happening.
🚨LOWER FUEL PRICES COMING
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) September 23, 2026
Today I declared a State of Emergency, allowing Louisiana farmers and timber harvesters to use the dyed diesel fuel they already keep on hand in an effort to LOWER FUEL PRICES during the peak of harvest season.
We’re not going to sit on the sidelines… pic.twitter.com/Y6jdrZhPEz
Regardless, Landry said he couldn’t just watch as Louisiana farmers suffered, though he didn’t mention that the root cause of their suffering was a man he promised would “Make Louisiana and America Great Again!”:
“We’re not going to sit on the sidelines while Louisiana farmers are paying record prices to harvest the crops that feed our families and support our economy. We have an opportunity to provide immediate relief, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The “immediate relief” is suspending a law that prevents Louisiana farmers from using dyed diesel fuel in their vehicles that they already have on hand. Dyed diesel is untaxed regular diesel fuel with red dye that marks it as not to be used on roads. It’s generally used for tractors, but is illegal for use in licensed highway vehicles. This order relaxes that law, at least until farmers can harvest their crops and get them to market.
Louisiana farmers seem relieved that Landry has thrown them a lifeline. Acadian News First quotes farmer Eddie Lewis as saying that before this he was “barely going to pay the bills,” and now says the order is “a small cushion, but it’s a cushion.”
Jim Simon of the American Sugar Cane League said, “We are grateful to Gov. Landry for recognizing the tremendous pressure these fuel prices are putting on Louisiana’s farmers… For Louisiana’s sugarcane farmers, this order could mean over $8 million in savings over the course of the 2026 harvest season. Every dollar matters…”
Once again, the root cause of these problems goes unsaid. However, given that Trump has indicated fuel prices won’t come down until after the November midterms, both farmers and regular Americans are likely to face pain at the pump for the foreseeable future.
