Top Takeaways:

• The Vapor Technology Association launched a national seven-figure ad campaign urging President Trump to intervene against FDA and Customs enforcement actions that threaten the independent U.S. vaping industry.
• VTA claims current federal crackdowns on vape imports contradict Trump’s past promises to protect flavored vapor products and small businesses that serve adult smokers.
• The campaign calls for targeted action against illicit Chinese products aimed at youth, while demanding regulatory reforms that preserve adult access to legal, reduced-risk alternatives.

The Vapor Technology Association (VTA) has launched a sweeping multimillion-dollar national advertising campaign aimed directly at President Donald Trump, calling on him to honor his earlier pledges to safeguard the American vaping industry by reining in federal enforcement actions targeting legal nicotine alternatives.

The ads, which will air on major networks including Fox News, Newsmax, NBC, Bloomberg, ESPN, and high-profile Sunday programs, are strategically placed to reach Trump himself, including spots purchased in the Washington, D.C. media market and near his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club.

“VTA is calling on President Trump to take aggressive action targeting Chinese vape products that target our kids and evade FDA safety checks,” said Tony Abboud, executive director of the VTA. “But, we also urge him to keep his promise to protect the multibillion-dollar independent U.S. vaping industry, save tens of thousands of small businesses across the country… and ensure adults retain access to the vape products they are using to quit smoking – all of which are in jeopardy now.”

VTA’s campaign underscores what it says is a fundamental contradiction between Trump’s past commitments and the current posture of federal regulators. In 2019, then-President Trump faced backlash from vaping advocates after briefly supporting a ban on flavored vapor products before walking back the policy amid political pressure.

In the years since, Trump has claimed credit for preserving the vaping industry, calling it a tool for adult smoking cessation and vowing to protect consumer choice.

Now, VTA says, that promise is being undermined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which are accused of seizing a wide range of legal vape products at ports of entry under a broad interpretation of enforcement powers. The group argues that these agencies are misdirecting resources by focusing on legitimate U.S.-based businesses while illicit Chinese products continue to flood the market.

“Despite attempts by some in the media and, specifically, advertising executives who attempted to censor our policy statements and longstanding advocacy positions, VTA and the member companies we represent will not stand down,” Abboud said. “We are taking our fight right to them.”

The campaign also comes as the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products faces mounting criticism from lawmakers, business groups, and public health stakeholders over the sluggish and opaque premarket review process for vapor products.

The FDA has been accused of failing to meet court-ordered deadlines, leaving thousands of applications unresolved and prompting what critics say is a regulatory bottleneck that favors major tobacco companies over independent players.

VTA’s letter to the administration outlines several key policy demands: accelerate and simplify FDA’s regulatory review framework; intensify enforcement against unauthorized Chinese imports using cartoon packaging and digital gimmicks; and create a clear, transparent system to allow legal products into the market without undermining efforts to reduce youth access.

The trade association also emphasized its commitment to curbing underage vaping through targeted marketing restrictions and responsible sales practices, while opposing what it sees as overreach that harms consumers seeking alternatives to combustible cigarettes.

“Right now,” the association stated, “rogue bureaucrats and an overreaching FDA is deputizing CBP to interdict virtually all vape products at the border… in direct opposition to President Trump’s promise to save this industry.”

With federal enforcement escalating and a proposed low-nicotine cigarette mandate also on the horizon, the independent vapor industry’s future may hinge in part on whether Trump reasserts control over agencies that critics say are veering off-course.

“We are confident our message and campaign will resonate with the Trump administration and the millions of vaping voters who support him,” said Abboud.