WASHINGTON — Families should not need a government permission slip — or a credit-trading scheme — to buy a new car. On September 26, President Donald J. Trump announced on Truth Social that he approved new fuel economy standards that TERMINATE the Biden EV mandate.
Trump’s words were America First and kitchen-table clear: the standards mean “LOWER PRICES, saving families thousands on a new, beautiful, and safe car.” That is the Golden Age bargain — safe cars Americans can actually afford, built for American workers and American roads.
The Department of Transportation and NHTSA rolled the policy as “Freedom Means Affordable Cars,” with Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy front and center. The projected fleet average under the new path is about 34.5 miles per gallon by model year 2031 — compared with roughly 50.4 mpg under the prior regulatory trajectory that stacked the deck for electric vehicles.
Patriots know the old game: EV-credit gaming and credit trading that let manufacturers paper over real-world engineering with compliance math. The Trump-Duffy approach proposes eliminating credit trading from model year 2028, ending the loophole culture that punished choice and rewarded mandate theater.
America First auto manufacturing is the through-line. When Washington stops forcing one technology on every family, factories can compete on quality, price, and strength — not on who bought the most regulatory credits.
This is how you rebuild the middle-class driveway: terminate the EV mandate, restore honest standards, and put American buyers first.
