President Donald Trump, who previously claimed to have "saved" flavored vapes, has increased his stock holdings in tobacco giant Philip Morris to as much as $1.64 million this year, according to financial disclosures. He also held shares in Altria and a third major tobacco company, though an apparent discrepancy in his disclosures clouds the full extent of his investments.
In 2025, tobacco interests donated $6 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting the president, and to Trump's inauguration. On April 30, a week before the FDA issued guidance that provided a critical boost to the industry, Reynolds American contributed an additional $5 million to the super PAC.
These stock trades and political contributions occurred as the Trump administration pursued a broadly pro-tobacco agenda. The FDA piloted a fast-track program to approve nicotine pouches, unveiled a program to allow vapes on the market more rapidly despite resistance from career civil servants, and issued guidance waving through flavored electronic cigarettes.
The administration also cut public health employees focusing on anti-tobacco policy and broadened enforcement against illicit e-cigarettes, which are competitors to the major industry players with financial ties to Trump. This represents the most pro-tobacco, pro-nicotine presidency in recent decades, a remarkable policy given the tens of millions of deaths cigarettes caused during the 20th century.
Anti-smoking groups report that half a million Americans die each year from cigarette-related illnesses. Industry advocates argue that the death toll justifies a shift to e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, which they claim are less harmful.
However, public health advocates warn that these products carry their own risks, including addiction. Lawmakers and public health leaders have criticized the recent FDA guidance and approvals as a "lucrative payday" that ignored scientific evidence to deliver what investment analysts describe as "very positive" steps for influential tobacco companies.
Brian King, who was pushed out of the FDA's tobacco office last April and now works at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the scale of the money "unprecedented and problematic." He fears that steering public policy toward tobacco, which remains addictive and harmful, puts Americans at risk. "It's a gift on a platter with a side of public health malpractice," he said.
The White House did not comment on the president's investments or industry donations to MAGA Inc. Spokesperson Kush Desai stated, "The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration's health policymaking is Gold Standard Science.
FDA's regulatory treatment of nicotine pouches and vapes is rooted in recent evidence that has found that these products can help adults quit smoking." Philip Morris disputed any connection, declining to comment on individual engagements or personal financial matters. Other tobacco companies, including Juul, Reynolds American, and Altria, did not respond to requests for comment.
The financial stakes are enormous. Investment analysts at Goldman Sachs note that newer products, touted as safer, generate higher profits per sale than traditional cigarettes.
For example, Philip Morris expects Zyn pouches to make eight times the gross profits of its cigarettes, according to Goldman Sachs analysts in March 2025. During his second-term campaign, Trump promoted himself as a pro-tobacco candidate, posting that he had "saved" flavored vaping and that President Joe Biden and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris "want everything banned." Since late 2023, MAGA Inc.
has received over $20 million from the industry, and Trump's inauguration garnered nearly $4 million more. His ballroom project has disclosed donations of unknown amounts from Altria and Reynolds American.
Recent Trump administration actions have followed through on his campaign rhetoric. In May, the FDA released guidance allowing manufacturers to market vapes and nicotine pouches while awaiting agency approval, and it approved several vaping products.
The month before, the Vapor Technology Association, which donated $1.25 million to Trump's inauguration, told its members it had met with the White House to discuss concerns. By that point, Trump had gone on a stock-purchasing spree.
In March, he made eight separate purchases of Philip Morris or Altria stock, worth as much as $275,000, according to a disclosure form bearing Trump's signature. The exact extent of Trump's tobacco investments is difficult to determine because financial disclosures show only ranges of investment amounts and contain an apparent discrepancy.
In January, the president sold $500,000 to $1,000,000 in Altria stock, but previous disclosures did not show he held that much equity in Altria. The White House declined to comment.
The FDA's May guidance and approvals drew condemnation from public health leaders, who worry the agency is allowing products with flavors especially appealing to young people. "After years of recognizing the dangers flavored e-cigarettes pose to youth, it is deeply troubling to see FDA ignore the scientific evidence and reverse course," said American Lung Association CEO Harold Wimmer.
Mitch Zeller, a former head of the FDA's tobacco center, called the guidance "blatantly illegal, both on its merits and procedurally, because it was issued as a final guidance without giving the public an opportunity to comment." A group of Democratic senators described the decision as "a free pass to addictive and harmful vapes" in letters to Reynolds American and Altria, concluding it would lead to "a lucrative payday after years of unsuccessful legislative and regulatory efforts to weaken federal tobacco oversight." Members of Congress are barred from insider trading, and many legislators want to ban trading of individual company stocks for all members. Following Trump's recent financial disclosures, which revealed he often traded in companies manufacturing GLP-1 drugs before his administration steered policy favorably, some members are calling for the president to be barred from stock trading as well.
Trump's tobacco policies have received favorable grades from investors. Goldman Sachs bankers described the May FDA guidance as "very positive" for Philip Morris and "a significant step in the FDA's positioning toward enforcement and acceptance of nic pouch and e-vapor innovation." Barclays analysts said the guidance was good news for Juul, a leading vape producer that contributed $1 million to MAGA Inc.
in November. FDA resistance to speeding up approvals reportedly contributed to the ouster of agency commissioner Marty Makary, who did not respond to requests for comment.
According to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the White House repeatedly intervened in the approval process. Zeller noted that during the first Trump administration, there was never any pressure from political appointees at FDA, HHS, or the White House regarding application review, but recent changes can be traced to tobacco firms' access to the White House.
The Trump administration has largely delivered on industry priorities. Soon after the inauguration, which tobacco companies had heavily funded, the administration withdrew a Biden-era proposal to ban menthol cigarettes.
It has also eased the path for nicotine pouches like Zyn, first approved under Biden. Investment analysts viewed government crackdowns on illicit e-cigarettes positively, with Barclays writing in January that "company commentary on enforcement has also been upbeat, suggesting that the tide could begin to turn in favor of the legal players in the market." Additionally, the Trump administration's government layoffs have decimated public health's tobacco control offices.
The CDC's office of smoking has been sharply curtailed, and its flagship "Tips From Former Smokers" campaign has been off the air for months, King said. "It's not difficult to see that less dollars invested in prevention and control is going to lead to more tobacco product use and tobacco-related disease," King added, especially given the government's decades-long success in reducing cigarette usage.
The shift is particularly ironic given the administration's focus on chronic disease through its Make America Healthy Again slogan. "Attempting to combat chronic disease without tobacco control is like attempting a triathlon without a bicycle: You are destined for failure before leaving the starting line," King concluded.