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Are Trump Administration Officials Blocking a Vaping Campaign Promise?
During the first year of any new U.S. presidential administration, change is abundant.
Like many of my conservative comrades, I believe the noticeable shift our nation has experienced over the past five months under President Donald J. Trump to be positive.
Since taking office, President Trump has prioritized the elimination of the Deep State influence on our government processes and outputs.
He's decluttered government agencies through the removal of unproductive and bureaucratic officials and made cuts to government spending easing the overall debt of our nation.
Unfortunately, agencies within Trump’s purview are taking this elimination mindset a step too far and nearing the eradication of a vital U.S. industry.
Vaping as we know it in America may soon cease to exist thanks to officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),
Officials at the border, under the orders of the FDA, are actively refusing entry of vapor product shipments attempting to enter the U.S.
This halt on the supply chain endangers the lives of millions of Americans who depend on flavored vaping products to quit smoking harmful cigarettes.
It also puts a multi-billion dollar U.S. industry, the tens of thousands of jobs it supports, and the hardworking small business owners running shops that sell these products at risk.
When President Trump called for tighter borders, this is not what he meant.
He meant ensuring dangerous criminals and illegal migrants cannot cross into America — not the seizure of all vaping products at the border.
In fact, the actions of these agencies at the border are in direct opposition to President Trump’s campaign promise to save the flavored vaping industry.
President Trump has long been a champion for flavored vaping.
He saved the industry in 2019 by doing away with an all-out ban and instead enacting a common sense Executive Order raising the age to buy flavored nicotine products to 21.
When he promised to save it again last year, he knew he’d be inheriting a Biden-era campaign to destroy the industry using China as a scapegoat for bureaucratic loyalties.
The idea that illicit Chinese vapes must be stopped from entering our country intentionally neglects the fact that all vapes are from China.
Some vapes from China are in fact illicit.
These are the ones that have not submitted the pre-market Tobacco Product Applications (PMTA) required by the FDA and target children with nefarious tactics.
It’s deplorable that leaders within his own administration are continuing to use this China narrative as a motive for their actions, despite President Trump’s clearly stated intentions to protect the industry.
Instead of working toward the best interest goals of our president and our nation, these officials at FDA and CBP have aligned themselves with one of Trump’s biggest opponents -— New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
In addition to her crusade against President Trump, James has initiated a litigious attack on vape companies for their supposed role in creating a "youth vaping epidemic" and "public health crisis."
Her disgraceful lawsuit wrongfully targets companies that have submitted PMTAs and fails to take into consideration the thousands of adult New Yorkers who rely on these products to quit smoking and the economic output the industry contributes to her state.
Officials at the FDA and CBP must ask themselves — does our loyalty lie with the leader of our nation who’s fighting to protect American business and American freedom or with a sworn-enemy spreading toxic narratives that distract from progress?
I urge these leaders at FDA and CBP to reconsider their approach to vaping regulation.
The demise of a multi-billion-dollar industry that millions of Americans depend on is avoidable. Don’t let your legacy be one of government overreach and economic failure.
Join President Trump on the right side of history and fight for the flavored vaping industry.
Jared Whitley is a longtime politico who has worked in the US Senate, White House, and defense industry. He has an MBA from Hult business school in Dubai, and in 2024 he won the Top of the Rockies best columnist award. Read Jared Whitley's Reports — More Here.
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