December 2019. Mitch Zeller is running the FDA’s tobacco division when he gets a call. A previous order? Ban every e-juice flavor except tobacco. The goal: stop the youth vaping epidemic that had infected nearly 30 percent of American high schoolers.
The White House had a change of heart.
New orders came down the line. Limit the ban to pod devices like Juul. Leave menthol alone. Zeller says Trump got scared by the pushback. “Political retreat” is exactly how he put it. Election year nerves.
Seven years later, Trump is back. And he’s trying harder than ever to woo the vape set. It makes no sense. Vapers aren’t a huge voting block. A massive illegal market already supplies anyone craving fruit flavors anyway. But Trump doesn’t care. The FDA is moving on his orders.
The Glas Exception
Earlier this month, the FDA gave its seal of approval to blueberry and mango vape juice from a company called Glas. The first non-tobacco, non-menthol flavors allowed under Trump.
A Glas spokesperson told WIRED the move helps adults quit combustible cigarettes while keeping teens out. Marty Makary, the recently departed FDA commissioner, disagreed. He left concerned that these flavors are bait for kids. He called the decision the final straw.
Zeller retired in 2022 so he’s not in the room. But he knows the playbook. This aligns with Trump’s public promises about how much the “vaping constituency” means to him politically.
White House spokesman Kush Desai insists this is “Gold Standard Science.” Claims the products help people quit smoking. When pressed on the political angle, Desai went quiet. Referred questions about Zeller to the FDA. Silence from the agency followed.
The Politics of Flavor
Trump promised to “save vaping.” It was a campaign pitch. The previous crackdown sparked a movement called “We Vape We Vote.” Angry shop owners and users in swing states showed up.
Eric Lindblom, a former FDA official, says Trump backpedaled immediately. He learned a lesson. You don’t poke the vape hornet’s nest.
Did it work?
Maybe for young MAGA donors. The Wall Street Journal says advisers think it placates them. Social media is full of ads thanking Trump. But vaping remains niche. More Americans smoke cigarettes (9.9 percent in 2024) than vape (7 percent). And the heaviest vapers? 21-to-24-year-olds. A demographic that famously hates voting.
So what’s the real prize?
Follow the money. Reynolds American, Altria. The big tobacco players who donated millions to Trump. They have vape brands too. Vuse belongs to Reynolds. Both companies want flavored vapes approved.
But there’s a deeper game. The illicit market.
The Grey Market Flood
Most e-cigarettes in the US are illegal. Imported from China. No FDA review. One estimate in 2024 put that number over 80 percent. Big tobacco hates that. It eats their market share.
Luis Pinto at Reynolds American tells WIRED they want “a regulated marketplace.” Not one overrun with illicit products.
Makary’s last act was a gift to these giants. The FDA will target unreviewed illegal imports. But companies that applied for approval? They can start selling while waiting for a decision. Codified “forgive, don’t ask.”
Lindblom calls it opening the door to lawbreakers.
The approval of Glas’s flavors is the headline. The regulatory shift is the reality. Zeller says it’s small potatoes compared to the illegal market. Trump wants the credit. The tobacco companies want the profit. The public? Left guessing which harm is greater.
“The White House went into political retreat.”
— Mitch Zeller on Trump’s 2019 policy pivot
