What to know about glyphosate, the herbicide behind a Trump executive order that's angered MAHA moms

Supporters of the "Make America Healthy Again" strategy have long railed against pesticides, making opposition to them a pillar of the movement.

But an executive order issued by President Donald Trump last week collides with that long-held stance.

The order states that glyphosate — an herbicide found in Roundup, the world's most widely used weed killer — is "central to American economic and national security" and calls for an adequate domestic supply.

Glyphosate inhibits protein synthesis in plants and microorganisms, leading to their death. Scientists can genetically modify corn, soybeans and cotton — three field crops that account for the vast majority of glyphosate use in the United States — to choose which crops survive and which die after glyphosate treatment.