'Poisoning American kids': Big Tobacco gave Trump PAC $5 million — and 5 days later, the FDA cleared flavored vapes. Critics are crying 'corruption'

Days after that $5 million donation, the FDA issued new guidance opening the door to flavored vapes — bypassing the agency's normal rulemaking process. A few days after that, Makary resigned, telling associates he could not in good conscience lead an agency that backed such a policy (1).

The timing has Democrats — and at least one Republican — calling it corruption, while others warn the real losers are American teenagers.

Five days, $5 million, one policy reversal

Campaign finance filings released on May 20 showed that a donation from Reynolds American's subsidiary brought the entity's total contributions to MAGA Inc. to $8 million. Reynolds' latest donation accounted for more than half of the $9.6 million MAGA Inc. raised in April.

The same subsidiary previously gave $10 million to a separate pro-Trump super PAC in 2024, contributed to Trump's $400 million White House ballroom fund, and a Reynolds executive was invited to an October White House dinner reserved for donors who gave $2.5 million or more (1).

The FDA's new guidance opens up the roughly $6 billion U.S. e-cigarette market — currently dominated by illegal Chinese disposables (2) — to major American tobacco companies looking to sell flavored vapes. It also allows higher nicotine levels in nicotine pouches and pledges a crackdown on illicit imports, an enforcement goal with bipartisan support in Congress. Guardrails ban cartoon characters and designs resembling toys, phones or gaming devices (3).

The Times found no definitive evidence linking the guidance to the donation, the lunch or specific lobbying, but called the policy a win for an industry that's spent years on the defensive (1).

What companies benefit

Reynolds stands to be a major beneficiary if it can get its own flavored products authorized. The Vuse maker is wholly owned by British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI), the world's third-largest tobacco company by volume (4). The new guidance opens a pathway for Reynolds to apply for flavored Vuse approvals — Vuse is currently locked to tobacco and menthol — but as of now, no flavored Reynolds products have been authorized. Reynolds also makes Camel and Lucky Strike.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) was also represented at the Jupiter lunch. It owns Philip Morris USA, makes Marlboro and gave $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural committee (5).

The first company to actually clear the new bar was Glas, a privately held Los Angeles manufacturer. On May 5 — five days after Reynolds' donation — the FDA authorized four Glas pods: Classic Menthol, Fresh Menthol, and mango and blueberry flavors sold as "Gold" and "Sapphire." It was the agency's first-ever authorization of non-tobacco, non-menthol e-cigarettes (6). The flavored approvals were the ones Trump had reportedly been pressing Makary to grant (7).

The policy fits a pattern. On his second full day in office, Trump withdrew a proposed federal ban on menthol cigarettes — an initiative the Biden administration had already largely shelved — and his team set aside a Biden-era proposal to sharply restrict nicotine levels in cigarettes (5).

Makary was already pushing back

Reporting after Makary's resignation suggests the FDA commissioner wasn't just blindsided by the FDA's May actions — he had been actively resisting flavored vape authorization for months.

According to internal memos later released by the agency, one of Makary's deputies blocked an FDA decision in February that would have authorized the first fruit-flavored vapes. FDA reviewers had determined the products were unlikely to be used by children because of Glas' age-gating technology: users must verify their identity with a government ID, pair the device with a smartphone via Bluetooth, and pass random biometric check-ins. The device won't operate if separated from the phone (6). The Glas products were finally OK'd on May 5, during Makary's last week heading the FDA (8).

In comments to STAT before his resignation, Makary acknowledged that career staff at the agency believed age-gating technology was solid. "That was their view. I was skeptical initially, but that's their view," he said (7).

'Corruption,' say critics

"Donald Trump has enriched himself, family and friends off the power of the White House to the tune of billions this term, often at the expense of the public," said Kayla Hancock, director of Protect Our Care's Public Health Project. "For a $5 million check to a Trump Super PAC, the twice impeached President was very amenable to corruption even when it involved poisoning American kids with addictive flavored vapes" (9).

Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island posted that "in the Trump administration, money beats MAHA every time" — a reference to Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" branding (10).

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been pressing the FDA on flavored vape approvals for weeks. He's been joined by Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and six other Democrats on letters demanding the agency reverse course (11).