Trump presses FDA chief to speed approval of flavored vapes

Donald Trump has pressed FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to move faster on flavored vapes and nicotine products, turning a tobacco policy fight into a test of whether public-health regulation can withstand White House pressure. The dispute reached into the Oval Office over the weekend, when Trump rebuked Makary for not approving the products quickly enough, according to the account described in the notes.

Makary, who was confirmed by the Senate on March 25, 2025, is the 27th commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. That matters because the agency has long taken a cautious line on flavored vaping products, which regulators have linked to strong appeal among younger users. On May 5, the FDA announced its first authorization of fruit-flavored electronic cigarettes intended for adult smokers, signaling a major shift even as the White House leaned on the agency for faster action.

The FDA still says tobacco products are reviewed under a public-health standard that weighs risks and benefits for the population as a whole. Its up-to-date list includes 41 authorized e-cigarettes, and those are the only e-cigarettes that may be legally sold in the United States. Companies need a written marketing order to bring a new tobacco product to market, which keeps the marketplace tightly controlled even as pressure builds for broader flavored-vape approvals.

The youth tobacco numbers explain why the fight has drawn so much attention. The 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 1.63 million middle and high school students, or 5.9 percent, used e-cigarettes, down from 2.13 million, or 7.7 percent, in 2023. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said youth vaping had fallen to the lowest level in a decade and to about one-third of the 2019 peak, when more than five million young people reported current use.

But flavor remains central to the problem. Among current youth e-cigarette users in 2024, 87.6 percent used flavored products, with fruit, candy, mint and menthol leading the way. More than a quarter, 26.3 percent, said they used e-cigarettes daily. Public-health advocates argue that those numbers show why any expansion of flavored products would risk reversing hard-won declines in youth use.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says nearly 90 percent of youth e-cigarette users use flavored products and argues that all flavored e-cigarettes should be eliminated. The group has also accused the FDA of missing deadlines and failing to clear illegal flavored products from the market. In a separate congressional push, lawmakers have pointed to youth-appealing flavors such as pink lemonade, cotton candy and bubblegum as evidence that the products are designed to draw in adolescents.

The White House pressure also marks a reversal from Trump’s earlier posture. In 2020, his administration moved to ban mint- and fruit-flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes, a limited crackdown that now sits uneasily beside his current push for faster approvals. If Makary shifts course, the result could reshape the nicotine market quickly and set a precedent for direct presidential pressure on scientific agencies tasked with guarding the public’s health.