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White House abruptly cancels meeting with vaping advocates – POLITICO, Politico

White House abruptly cancels meeting with vaping advocates – POLITICO, Politico


                        

                            
                                    

                                                                                 

            

        Donald Trump

    

                President Donald Trump. | Mark Wilson / Getty Images

        

        

The White House abruptly organized – and then quickly canceled – a meeting Thursday with frustrated conservative policy leaders, to try to tamp down anger about a sweeping vaping ban that’s inflamed the Trump administration’s traditional allies, four individuals with knowledge of the meeting told POLITICO.

President Donald Trump last weekannounced a banon flavored e-cigarettes, a policy that officialsportrayed as a response to an epidemic of teen vaping Amid a potentially unrelated outbreak of a mysterious vaping-related disease that’s stricken 530 and killed seven people.

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While public health officials largely cheered Trump’s crackdown, conservatives have sought to convince the White House that the president’s ban is a federal overreach that will anger millions of adult vapers, including as many as 2. (million in) swing states. In the past week, the Wall Street Journal editorial boardhas blasted“the frenzy against e-cigarettes” and multiple conservatives have taken aim at Trump’s ban in high-profile op-eds.

“A ban on flavored e-cigarettes could cost Trump a second term,” Paul Blair of Americans for Tax Reformarguedin a Washington Examiner op-ed last week. The “well-organized vaping constituency could swing the outcome of the Electoral College one way or the other.”

The Trump administration on Wednesday morning invited outside conservatives to a meeting with senior officials, framed to hear out their concerns. But by Thursday morning, the meeting with conservative groups was called off, and invitees told POLITICO that they’ve felt sidelined through a rapidly evolving debate – and that it’s misrepresented their position.

“I think that the White House didn’t necessarily have an accurate feel for where conservative groups were at on this,” said Blair, who was invited to the meeting and has shared concerns about the vaping strategy with administration officials. “I think there’s a little bit of chaos over at the White House given how strong the pushback has been.”

“They should do research before implementing nationwide policies,” said Michelle Minton, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who was also invited. “I would encourage them to continue this outreach and continue to look into this issue before they do anything.”

A White House official said the meeting was canceled due to a scheduling conflict and is expected to be rescheduled. The official noted that Trump has directed the FDA to take action to protect the public health of children.Trump tweeted last week, “While I like the Vaping alternative to Cigarettes, we need to make sure this alternative is SAFE for ALL! Let’s get counterfeits off the market, and keep young children from Vaping! “

Bloomberg firstreported the meeting’s cancellation.

Beyond Thursday’s canceled meeting, the Trump administration has sought to reassure vaping advocates by deploying top health officials – including Surgeon General Jerome Adams – to listen to their concerns over the past week, said two individuals with knowledge of the strategy. An HHS spokesperson said Adams had a number of calls with interested parties, as is common with policy rollouts. “Those calls have been with leading health care organizations and associations that seek to advance public health and highlight the dangers tobacco products pose for our youth,” the spokesperson said.

Juul, the dominant e-cigarette manufacturer, has avoided directly lobbying the White House since Trump’s ban was announced, said an official with knowledge of the company’s strategy, as it weighs short-term trade-offs versus long-term strategy.

“The company fully supports the flavor part of the ban,” said the official, adding that the rise in teen vaping has created public health concerns and puts the entire industry at risk. But Juul is still deciding its position on Trump’s call to limit menthol e-cigarettes, because menthol is available in combustible cigarettes, the official added.

                                                                                      

                                

                            

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