NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday plans to release new fuel economy standards that would relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks.
President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social media account Saturday that the less stringent mileage requirements would “take the waste out of building cars in America" and save families “thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car," while boosting auto production in the U.S.
Last December, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projected that the new standards would set the industry fleetwide average for light-duty vehicles at roughly 34.5 miles per gallon in the 2031 model year, down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under rules put in place by the Biden administration.
Fuel economy requirements set out how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. The change would further make do on Trump’s promise to revoke policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles.
Since taking office, Trump has relaxed auto tailpipe emissions rules, repealed fines for automakers that do not meet federal mileage standards and terminated consumer credits of up to $7,500 for EV purchases.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Saturday on his social media account on X that the changes would be announced Monday. The White House, Department of Transportation and NHTSA couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the details of the new standards.
General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford Motor, maker of the top-selling pickup truck, the F-150, also couldn't be immediately reached for comment. The administration and automakers have said the new rules will increase Americans’ access to the full range of gasoline vehicles they need and can afford.
The average new car in America sold for $50,089 in August, crossing over the $50,000 line for the first time since last December, according to Kelley Blue Book data. At the same time, Americans are spending more on gas as Washington’s war with Iran disrupts the global flow of fuel. The national average price for a gallon of gas was $4.47 on Sunday, up from $4.09 a month ago, according to the AAA motor club.
Trump has repeatedly pledged to end what he falsely calls an EV “mandate,” referring incorrectly to President Joe Biden’s target that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. No federal policy has mandated auto companies to sell EVs.
According to data from the automotive research group Edmunds, EVs accounted for 6.5% of new vehicle sales in February, down from 7.4% for all of 2025.
News of the revised standards immediately drew rebukes from environmentalists.
Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Safe Climate Transport Campaign, said that the final rule “ignores the feasibility of clean technology and the millions of fuel-efficient cars already on the road.”
“Trump is tanking sensible mile per gallon standards at the worst possible time for consumers, who are getting hit with sky-high prices at the pump,” Becker said in a statement. “Consumers will pay the price for these reckless rollbacks while Trump’s Big Oil and Big Auto buddies reap the short-term profits."
Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All campaign, vowed the environmental group would fight the rule and said that the loosening of fuel standards would “make driving more expensive too.”
"Less fuel-efficient cars mean more gas burned, spending more at the pump, and dirtier air in our communities,” Garcia wrote in a statement.
When the 2024 standards went into effect, NHTSA estimated they would save 14 billion gallons of gasoline from being burned by 2050. The agency also said that while new fuel-efficient vehicles cost more up front, savings on gasoline over the lifetime of the car or truck would more than make up for that.
Without these standards, in 2035, cars could produce 22,111 more tons of carbon dioxide per year than under the Biden-era rules. It also translates to an extra 90 tons a year of deadly soot particles and 4,870 additional tons a year of smog components such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds emitted into the air in coming years.
Mileage standards, known as the corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, have been implemented since the 1970s energy crisis, and over time, automakers have gradually improved their vehicles’ average efficiency.
FILE - Unsold 2026 F-150 pickup trucks sit in a long line outside a Ford dealership on April 12, 2026, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during an event on fuel economy standards in the Oval Office of the White House, Dec. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic resigned Sunday to pursue a bid to become prime minister in an upcoming early parliamentary election that will test his firm rule in the Balkan country, which was rattled by nearly two years of protests.
Vucic’s second presidential term would otherwise end in May next year. He is banned by the Serbian Constitution from seeking a third term and said he was resigning to lead his right-wing Serbian Progressive Party in the Oct. 25 ballot.
The governing populists face a major challenge at the ballot box from a youth-backed movement that led the protests triggered by the Nov. 1, 2024, train station canopy collapse that killed 16 people in the northern city of Novi Sad.
University students demanded accountability for the tragedy. Their struggle for justice and against corruption has grown into a strong movement that will attempt to oust Vucic’s government after 14 years in power. Vucic himself has been either prime minister or president for the past 12 years.
“I am resigning the duty of the President of the Republic,” Vucic said, reading the text of his resignation.
The ballot in October will be held against a backdrop of high political tensions as Vucic’s populists seek to remain in office despite widespread popular discontent. His decision to run for prime minister is seen as a carefully planned maneuver to retain a top position, and to boost his party’s chances against the student movement.
Before signing his resignation, Vucic briefly addressed his supporters outside the presidency building in Belgrade. He said “tonight is a very special occasion for me, my last evening in this beautiful building.”
“But I look to the future with joy, new victories await us,” he told the crowd as they chanted his name. “Let’s beat them (opponents) more convincingly than ever before.”
Vucic in recent weeks has toured the country tirelessly in a live coverage on pro-government media. He has opened new roads, offered assistance money and cheaper medicines, and visited voters in their homes. More recently, Vucic was filmed driving in his brother’s car to some of the events.
The prime minister in Serbia is formally more powerful than the president. But Vucic still took a dominant role during his two five-year terms, sometimes presiding over government sessions and routinely announcing all important decisions and plans.
The Independent Bureau for Social Research, or BIRODI, has filed a complaint alleging that Vucic has abused a public institution as president to promote his party, which he has dismissed. There has been no response from the anti-corruption authorities that are under government control.
After Vucic’s resignation, the acting president will be a close ally and former prime minister, Ana Brnabic, who is the outgoing speaker of Serbia’s 250-member Parliament.
Vucic said the first round of the early presidential election must be held by the end of this year because of a 90-day deadline.
Vucic and his party have been accused of rampant corruption, organized crime links and a clampdown on democratic freedoms, including the critical media. The SNS party has gradually taken control over all state institutions since coming to power in 2012, while denying abuse of office and repeatedly pledging to fight graft.
The student-backed election list includes little-known experts, professors, teachers, athletes and other individuals from all walks of life. Groups of students have been touring the country on bicycles as part of their campaign calling for the rule of law and an end to corruption.
Analysts say the student group and Vucic are polling close, heralding a tight race and a referendum-like atmosphere. Also running are Vucic’s allies, the Socialist Party, a pro-EU opposition alliance and several smaller groups.
Vucic said that as of Monday, he will be “everywhere in Serbia to listen to the people.” While praising his government's achievements, Vucic contended that “I have made mistakes but I have worked diligently like hardly anyone in this position.”
Vucic also said he had pardoned 49 people before leaving the office, including 23 who have been prosecuted for alleged offenses during the protests. They include a group of anti-government activists who fled Serbia after being accused of anti-state activities.
Authorities have pushed hard against protesters with police violence and detentions as Vucic, without offering evidence, accused his opponents and critical media of intending to “destroy the state” under unspecified foreign influence.
He told Serbia’s state-run RTS Television earlier on Sunday that foreign powers and unidentified people in the country plan to stir unrest on election night.
Serbia’s efforts to join the European Union have stalled under Vucic because of democratic backsliding and a refusal to join sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic walks on the red carpet before a welcoming ceremony for Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic waves a Serbian flag during a rally of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - A supporter of Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic holds his photo during a rally in Belgrade, Serbia, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
FILE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic looks on as documents are exchanged after the signing of an agreement following talks with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
