Trump did 180 on major issue after visit from Susie Wiles' tobacco industry pals: report

President Donald Trump reversed himself on a major public health issue after lobbyists from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles' former client visited.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized an L.A.-based company to sell flavored vape products, which Trump had opposed as harmful to young people, after the tobacco firm Swisher International lobbied the president's office in each of the last four quarters, either directly or through a firm where Wiles’ daughter works, reported The Daily Beast.

"Swisher itself does not produce vape products, and sister company E-Alternative Solutions has not received approval in this week’s announcement," the Beast reported. "Wiles was previously registered as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners, which lobbied the government on behalf of SI Group Client Services, an associated branch of Swisher."

"Wiles represented the tobacco firm in 2019, 2021, and 2022 and is name-checked in filings at least once in each of those years," the report added. "She later lobbied Congress with Mercury Public Affairs, which also acted on behalf of SI Group in 2023 and 2024, Public Citizen previously reported."

Trump reportedly pressured FDA commissioner Marty Makary to grant speedy approval to Los Angeles-based Glas Inc. to sell fruit-flavored and menthol vape pods containing 5 percent-tobacco-derived nicotine, which President Joe Biden's administration had oppose to keep the products away from children.

Since Wiles started working in the White House, Swisher has been consistently represented by the lobbying firm Continental Strategy, where her daughter Katie Wiles works, and she was reportedly promoted to partner by Continental the day after her mother was appointed chief of staff.

"Continental represented the tobacco firm, known for its Swisher Sweets cigars, in the second, third, and fourth quarters last year, reporting a total of $225,000 in income," the Beast reported. "Each filing acknowledged lobbying the Executive Office of the President, as well as other government bodies, on the issue of 'tobacco regulation.'"

Lobbying reports must be filed quarterly, and Swisher's documents show the company directly lobbied various government branches, including the Executive Office of the President, last year in quarters one and four, at a cost of $330,000 each time, and once in the first quarter of 2026, at $410,000.

A White House source told the Beast that Swisher had not lobbied the White House regarding flavor bans impacting its portfolio of products.

“The Chief of Staff operates with the highest ethical standards and with the singular focus of advancing the President’s America First agenda to deliver for the American people,” White House communication director Steven Cheung the Daily Beast.

“Susie Wiles has the complete trust of President Trump and everyone in the Administration because she executes that mission flawlessly with discipline and professionalism every single day," Cheung said. "The fake Daily Beast story is nothing more than a desperate attempt to manufacture a conspiracy around one of the most respected and effective leaders in White House history.”