WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is resetting federal fuel standards that were used by President Joe Biden’s administration to impose severe regulations on American car manufacturers.

The president unveiled the changes in the Oval Office, promising that the reset of the Biden-era fuel economy standards will save American families a combined $109 billion. The president said he will realign the standards with real world market conditions.

“Combined with the insane electric vehicle mandate, Biden’s burdensome regulations helped cause the price of cars to soar more than 425%, and in one case, they went up 18% in one year,” Trump said. “Today, we’re taking one more step to kill the Green New Scam.”

The president added that his administration’s action “is expected to save the typical consumer at least $1,000 off the price of a new car, and we think substantially more than that.”

Trump was flanked by Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy as well as Republican lawmakers and the CEOs of major American carmakers Ford and Stellantis.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg illegally twisted mileage standards to create an electric vehicle mandate — jacking up car prices for American families and forcing manufacturers to produce vehicles no one wanted,” said Duffy. “I’m proud to stand with President Trump in the Oval Office today to say that those days are over. This administration understands the freedom of every American family starts with affordable cars. That’s why our new standards will make that dream more achievable by letting auto manufacturers produce the cars that fit families’ needs at a lower price.”

Trump’s move was praised by auto leaders, including Ford CEO Jim Farley, who said in a statement ahead of the announcement, “As America’s largest auto producer, we appreciate President Trump’s leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities. We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability. This is a win for customers and common sense.”

Farley said in the Oval Office that Trump’s move will allow Ford to “invest in affordable vehicles made in the U.S.”

“We believe that people should be able to make a choice” between gas-powered, hybrid, and electric cars, Farley added. “And we will invest more in affordable vehicles.”

Under Biden’s rules, auto manufacturers were required to increase fuel efficiency to an average of around 50 miles per gallon for vehicles by 2031. The Trump administration took immediate action to eliminate the former president’s policies of fuel efficiency, and shortly after Duffy was sworn in as Transportation secretary in January, he signed an order to roll back Biden’s fuel economy standards.

50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek.

Biden’s stringent rules, which were imposed under the 1975 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, worked as a “backdoor electric vehicle mandate,” according to the Trump administration. The White House argues that the reset of fuel economy standards “will realign” the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program with what Congress initially intended and will take a major burden off of car manufacturers.

Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said the Trump administration’s move would also give Americans more freedom when shopping for vehicles.

“We look forward to working further with [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] on environmentally responsible policies that also allow us to offer our customers the freedom to choose the vehicles they want at prices they can afford,” Filosa said.

A spokesperson for General Motors said in a statement on Wednesday that it supports the goals of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s proposed rules as well as its “intention to better align fuel economy standards with market realities.”

“We have long advocated for one national standard that upholds customer choice and provides the auto industry long-term stability,” the spokesman said. “As we review the proposal, we remain committed to offering the best and broadest portfolio of electric and gas-powered vehicles on the market.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries agreed with President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Rep. Henry Cuellar on bribery, money laundering, and “foreign influence” charges from the Biden-era Justice Department in 2024.

“Listen, the reality is this indictment was very thin to begin with, in my view. The charges were eventually going to be dismissed, if not at the trial court level by the Supreme Court, as they’ve repeatedly done in instances just like this,” the Democrat leader said on CNN’s “The Situation Room” on Wednesday, adding that Cuellar is a “beloved” member of the chamber.

He further added, “I don’t know why the President decided to do this. I think the outcome was exactly the right outcome.”

When CNN asked Jeffries if Cuellar had planned to switch parties, as he represents a south Texas district that the president won last year, he anticipates that the lawmaker will remain a Democrat.

“I think Congressman Cuellar is a highly-valued Member of the House Democratic Caucus, and I expect that he’ll continue to remain a highly-valued Member of the House Democratic Caucus,” he added.

50% off DailyWire+ annual memberships will not return for another year, so don’t miss this deal! Join now at DailyWire.com/cyberweek.

The Texas Democrat filed to run in the Democratic primary earlier on Wednesday. Punchbowl News reported that Cuellar said “nothing has changed” when asked on Capitol Hill after the pardon whether he planned to become a Republican.

The 2024 indictment alleged that Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, “accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: an oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan, and a bank headquartered in Mexico City.”

Trump has been a critic of the indictment since it was announced in May 2024, saying it was politically motivated due to the congressman’s opposition to the Biden administration’s lax border policies. The Biden administration caught flak from Republicans and a handful of Democrats for the border crisis that persisted throughout the term, which led to major humanitarian issues in communities throughout the southwest that were ill-equipped to handle the resulting massive influx of individuals crossing illegally.

“I want to thank President Trump for his tremendous leadership and for taking the time to look at the facts. I thank God for standing with my family and I during this difficult time. This decision clears the air and lets us move forward for South Texas,” the Democrat said in an X post on Wednesday. “This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on.”

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Cuellar had ultimately been targeted for “speaking the TRUTH.”

“Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!” the president added.

Cuellar is expected to have a competitive race in 2026, with the Cook Political Report rating his district as a “toss-up.”