Trump’s flavored vape push sparks backlash from some MAHA influencers and administration officials

VapingTrump’s flavored vape push sparks backlash from some MAHA influencers and administration officialsThe FDA this month opened a pathway for tobacco companies to sell flavored e-cigarettes and granted its first authorization for fruit-flavored vapes.FDA Commissioner Marty Makary speaks alongside President Donald Trump during a press conference at the White House in 2025.Andrew Harnik / Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 15, 2026, 6:10 PM EDTBy Aria BendixThe Trump administration’s recent moves to make flavored e-cigarettes and vapes more widely available have caused a splintering among prominent voices in the MAHA movement and even some federal health officials.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s senior spokesperson, Richard Danker, resigned Wednesday over the regulatory changes, which include a pathway for tobacco companies to begin selling flavored electronic cigarettes and the first Food and Drug Administration authorization of fruit-flavored vapes. The new policies also played a role in the ousting of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who opposed them.In Danker’s resignation letter, viewed by NBC News and first obtained by The New York Times, he wrote that flavored e-cigarettes “would appeal to children and expose them to nicotine addiction, lung damage, and higher risk of cancer.”Some influencers in the Kennedy-led “Make America Healthy Again” movement expressed frustration over the changes for a different reason: concerns about the tobacco industry’s apparent influence on the FDA.Alex Clark, a health and wellness podcaster for Turning Point USA, a youth-focused conservative group, said the administration’s support for flavored e-cigarettes “adds more fuel to the fire when it comes to stoking fears that MAHA moms have that special interest groups are running the White House.”“President Trump consistently pledged to expand access to vapes in light of...