Maddowblog-Trump's FDA delivers for tobacco industry following $5 million super PAC donation

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Given the recent pattern, it’s tough to ignore the pay-to-play appearances in an administration for which corruption allegations have become the norm.

The story about Big Tobacco getting what it wants from the FDA after donating million to Trump’s super PAC is important.

But so is the intensifying pay-to-play pattern, showing just how frequently this same thing happens.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-21T14:03:01.137Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-fda-flavored-vapes-super-pac-reynolds-american

What we didn’t know about the developments, however, was the possible role of a political contribution. The New York Times reported:

The tobacco company Reynolds American donated $5 million to a super PAC backed by President Trump last month, about one week before his administration rolled out a new policy that could prove lucrative to the tobacco industry.

The donation, which came through a Reynolds subsidiary and brings to $8 million the total donated by the subsidiary to MAGA Inc., the Trump-backed super PAC, was revealed in a campaign finance report filed Wednesday night.

A White House spokesperson told the Times that the donation was unrelated to the administration’s policy, and the “only guiding factor” was “gold standard science.”

Perhaps. But the timeline is striking:

April 30: Tobacco giant donates $5 million to Trump-aligned super PAC

May 1: Tobacco giant’s executive and lobbyists get an in-person lunch with Trump

May 1: Trump interrupts lunch to call the FDA commissioner and other leading officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, echoing the industry’s line

May 8: The FDA bypasses its regular rulemaking process and delivers the policy the tobacco giant wanted

Maybe the $5 million contribution was entirely irrelevant, but if so, that’s quite a coincidence.....

With a pattern like this, it’s tough to ignore the pay-to-play appearances in an administration for which corruption allegations have become the norm.