Before Trump first took office, President Biden’s FDA had proposed a “bold” regulation that would dramatically lower nicotine levels in cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products. The rule aimed to cap nicotine content at no more than 0.7 milligrams per gram of tobacco — a level so low that, according to the FDA, it would eliminate the addictive nature of smoking.
While the FDA insisted the rule would not technically “ban” cigarettes, critics argued that drastically reducing nicotine would effectively destroy the product — and they are now optimistic that Trump will scrap the plan entirely.
“The Biden legacy on tobacco policy is one of hamfisted regulations, bloated bureaucracy, and prohibition that fueled massive criminal markets — from cigarettes to Chinese vapes,” Rich Marianos, former ATF assistant director and executive director of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital.
“President Trump can slam the coffin shut on that failed era by killing this insane cigarette ban and focusing on real enforcement.”
Peter Brennan, Executive Director of the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association, echoed that sentiment, saying that “prohibitionist” tobacco policies hurt small businesses by pushing legal sales into the black market.
“Biden’s plan to ban cigarettes remains a real threat looming over us,” Brennan said. “We’re hopeful President Trump will step in to save America’s convenience stores from disaster.”
Trump’s Record on Nicotine Policies
During his first term, Trump withdrew a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes — a move that sharply reversed a major priority of Biden-era public health advocates. Months later, Trump’s FDA also removed Brian King, a key figure behind the push for menthol bans and low-nicotine rules, from his post — a decision experts praised as a major shift in direction.
“President Trump has successfully championed nicotine freedom by repealing Biden’s misguided menthol ban and firing the FDA official behind it,” a Republican strategist involved with Trump’s 2024 campaign told Fox News Digital. “The next logical step is to officially kill the Biden-era low-nicotine rule — ending Biden’s ‘war on nicotine’ once and for all.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the FDA for comment.
A Political Issue with 2024 Ramifications
Biden’s so-called “war on nicotine” — coupled with a flood of illicit Chinese vape products — has been blamed by some political observers for damaging his reelection prospects, as well as those of Vice President Kamala Harris, who eventually replaced him on the Democratic ticket.
“If President Trump cancels Biden’s disastrous cigarette rule, it would be a major victory for his working-class coalition,” a source close to the Trump team said.
As Trump’s “nicotine freedom crusade” ramps up, the battle over America’s tobacco future is quickly becoming another key flashpoint in the 2024 campaign.