Trump Wants to Be the Hero Vapers Don’t Really Need

In December 2019, Mitch Zeller, who at the time headed the FDA’s Tobacco Products Center, received an urgent phone call from a colleague at the agency.

Months earlier, President Donald Trump and his administration had pledged to remove e-cigarettes of all flavors except tobacco from the market in an effort to stamp out a youth vaping epidemic that, at the time, saw nearly 30% of U.S. teens use nicotine.

By the time Zeller got that call in December, he says, the White House had different instructions for the FDA: limit the ban to pod-based vapes, like Juuls, and leave menthol flavors alone.

Zeller says this softer attitude is “absolutely” because Trump, heading into the 2020 election year, was spooked by the pushback on his initial plans. “The White House,” Zeller says, “has gone into political retreat.”

Nearly seven years later, and well into his second term, Trump is sending an even more aggressive signal to supporters of vaping and the industry that supplies it. The outcome is unclear, given that vapers make up a relatively small share of the voting public and a vast illicit market already exists to serve virtually anyone looking for a flavored e-cigarette — but that hasn’t stopped Trump’s FDA from making things official.

Earlier this month, apparently under pressure from Trump, the agency approved the sale of blueberry and mango flavored vape juices made by the company Glas, the first time the agency has given approval to e-cigarette flavors other than tobacco and menthol. “Our data shows that flavored products can play an important role in helping adult smokers transition away from combustible cigarettes, while our technology is designed to help limit youth access and support responsible use,” a Glas spokesperson told WIRED.

Yet, according to the New York Times, the move was the final straw for recently departed FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who was concerned about the products’ appeal to children.

Zeller, who retired from the FDA in 2022, says he is not at the forefront of Trump’s thinking these days. But, he says, the push for flavored vapes “is consistent with everything I’ve seen the president say publicly about how politically important vaping is to him,” as well as his apparently cozy relationship with tobacco industry executives.

In a statement, White House spokesperson Kush Desai told WIRED: “President Trump has consistently committed to expanding access to vapes in light of an abundance of recent evidence demonstrating that these products are beneficial for Americans trying to quit smoking. The sole guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s health policy development is gold standard science.” Desai did not respond to questions about Trump’s desire to appeal to vapers; he also submitted questions about Zeller’s recollection of the events to the FDA, which did not respond.

There are in fact studies that suggest that flavored vapes appeal to both adults and children, perhaps helping some transition from cigarettes to the probably less deadly electronic version. But Trump – a man who, in the run-up to the 2024 election, promised to “save vaping” and whose administration has been equally supportive of other vice-adjacent industries, including psychedelics and prediction markets – has apparently already been swayed by public opinion on this issue.

His initial plans to ban the flavors gave rise to the “we vape, we vote” movement, a ragtag group of adult vapers and vape store owners from across the country, including key states, angry over Trump’s planned crackdown.