The Trump administration has increasingly cozied up to addiction-for-profit industries, as evidenced by the approval of fruit-flavored vapes, rescheduling of marijuana, and removal of tariffs on Scotch whiskey. These industries have contributed millions of dollars to political causes aligned with the president and threaten to put private profits ahead of public health.
The New York Times reported that Reynolds American, the parent company of tobacco brands including Camel and Newport, contributed $5 million on April 30 to MAGA Inc, the super PAC aligned with President Trump. The article stated that “Reynolds has gone all in behind Mr. Trump.”
Two days later, on May 1, Trump had lunch with an executive and two lobbyists from Reynolds, during which time he called then-Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary to press him about the agency’s approval of fruit-flavored vapes. On May 5, the FDA circumvented its standard rulemaking process and approved fruit-flavored vapes.
This move alarmed public health professionals, who have long warned that these products do more harm than good. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said, “flavored products are driving youth use,” adding that “the only way to end this crisis is to eliminate all flavored e-cigarettes.” The FDA’s decision was also condemned by the American Lung Association.
Alongside Trump’s embrace of the tobacco industry, he has also become receptive to the marijuana industry. In December 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that urged the Attorney General to expedite the federal reclassification of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. This reform would give the industry a tax break and permit marijuana to be sold as a purported medicinal product even though it has not been approved by the FDA for the treatment of any disease or condition.
This change followed intense lobbying from the marijuana industry. Trump said, “I’ve never been inundated by so many people as I have about” the rescheduling of marijuana. For example, Kim Rivers, the CEO of Trulieve, attended a Trump fundraiser that cost $1 million per seat.
Much like the approval of fruit-flavored vapes, the rescheduling of marijuana threatens public health. Dr. Kevin A. Sabet, the CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said that rescheduling is “a full betrayal of the President’s promise to keep all Americans safe and healthy. This is a giant gift to Big Marijuana and its pushers who are now more incentivized to target children with their highly addictive products.”
In April, Trump removed tariffs on Scotch whiskey and bourbon. Following this shift, the New York Times reported that “distilleries and industry leaders on both sides of the Atlantic… had been lobbying relentlessly to have these tariffs scrapped.” Mark Kent, the CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association, called the shift “a significant boost for the Scotch whisky industry.”
Altogether, these changes illustrate how President Trump and his administration have been accommodating the interests of addiction-for-profit industries despite facing opposition from public health advocates.