What Donald Trump has said about vaping as SCOTUS looks at ban

The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is hearing arguments today on whether to overturn the Trump-Era Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on fruit-flavored vapes.

The current regulations mean that the FDA has the power to deny marketing applications for fruit and mint flavored e-cigarettes.

This FDA ban was implemented during the first Trump Administration in 2019 when youth vaping hit record highs and fruit-flavored tobacco products were seen as a driver in the number of children choosing to vape.

Trump has given different opinions on vaping through his social media and the legislation that he passed while in office.

In September, 2024, Trump said he would “save vaping again” as part of a longer Truth Social post where he stated: “I saved flavored vaping in 2019, and it greatly helped people get off smoking. I raised the age to 21, keeping it away from the ‘kids.’ Kamala and Joe want everything banned, killing small businesses all over the country. I’ll save vaping again!”

Although Trump said he had “saved flavoured vaping,” in 2019 he expressed support for a total ban on all flavored vapes.

He then loosened his position in 2020 to only bar most flavors, including fruit vapes, such as mango Juul pods.

Trump’s multiple stances on vaping were clear from a post on New Year’s Eve 2019, where he said: “Vaping is coming out. … We have to protect our families. At the same time, it’s a big industry. We want to protect the industry.”

During his first term as President, Trump also raised the federal tobacco-buying age from 18 to 21, and signed legislation that would allow the FDA to regulate all tobacco products including e-cigarettes, cigars, and hookah pipes.

The Trump Transition Team has been emailed for comment.

Per Newsweek reporting, this current case was brought to the Supreme Court by Tritton Distribution, a Dallas-based vaping company responsible for manufacturing a vape called “Jimmy The Juice Man in Peachy Strawberry.”

Tritton is arguing that the FDA’s marketing approval requirements were changed without warning, making it difficult for them to get their e-cigarette application approved.

Despite being illegal, fruit flavored vapes are easily obtained via online and brick-and-mortar stores. However, supporters of the FDA ban still credit it with helping to reduce levels of youth vaping, which were at a high when the ban was first implemented.

According to Tobacco Free Kids, regulation works, as states with the most comprehensive e-cigarette laws have seen a drop in the sale of e-cigarettes over the past four years.

Massachusetts for example, which Tobacco Free Kids says has “the most comprehensive prohibition on flavored tobacco sales,” saw flavored e-cigarette sales fall by 98 percent in just four years.

Tobacco Free Kids added: “These findings underscore the need for urgent action at all levels of government to eliminate the flavored e-cigarettes that have driven a youth addiction crisis. While there has been significant progress in reducing youth e-cigarette use, more than 1.6 million kids still use e-cigarettes, and nearly 90 percent of them report using flavored products.”

SCOTUS has already declined one tobacco case this year, choosing not to hear arguments from tobacco companies against a new law that calls for graphic images of tobacco-induced illnesses on cigarette packs.

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