How Donors, Access, and Polls Led Trump to Reclassify Marijuana

President Donald Trump’s move Thursday to sign an executive order loosening federal restrictions on marijuana — and paving the way for a Medicare pilot program covering CBD — capped a yearlong, coordinated push by the cannabis industry that combined traditional lobbying with large political donations, data-driven messaging and direct outreach to the president’s inner circle, industry insiders told CNBC.

Despite long-standing GOP opposition to loosening drug laws — including a small wave of bills from lawmakers seeking to tighten rules after the executive order — industry advocates have claimed victory. They see it as a success in reframing marijuana not as a social issue, but as a pro-business policy, ultimately winning over a president famous for his sobriety.

“I’ve never been so overwhelmed by so many people as I have been about” marijuana reclassification, Trump said during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Three figures have emerged as key architects of this policy shift, according to several insiders, including the CEO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed cannabis company, who requested anonymity to speak frankly. The key players were Howard Kessler, a Palm Beach billionaire and longtime friend of the president; Kim Rivers, CEO of cannabis giant Trulieve; Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s longtime pollster, the people said.

Kessler, known for pioneering converged credit cards, has been in Trump’s orbit since at least 2005, attending Trump’s wedding to Melania Trump and appearing at the Mar-a-Lago resort and state dinners.

Kessler, a leukemia survivor, began advocating for the medical benefits of cannabis for seniors in 2019, and founded the Commonwealth Project to advance the cause. In September, Trump shared a video of the Commonwealth Project on Truth Social, which said CBD coverage was “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”

Other senior members of the Trump administration pointed to Kessler’s influence on Thursday.

During the signing ceremony, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. said, “We would not be here today” if it were not for Kessler.

“God bless you because you are a pain in our side,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, joked to Kessler in the Oval Office. Oz added that Kessler promised to finally stop contacting the president about the issue once the order was signed.

Kessler did not respond to a request for comment.

The White House said that Trump’s executive order would open the way for new treatments.

“The presence of so many leaders from law enforcement and veterans groups at the signing ceremony in the Oval Office demonstrates how President Trump continues to push the envelope in support of our nation’s heroes,” White House spokesman Khush Desai said in a statement.

Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, one of the largest US cannabis companies, has also forged a close relationship with the Trump administration, people familiar with the matter told CNBC, specifically through a personal connection with Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wells.

Although Wells was not a registered lobbyist for Trulieve, she previously worked for Ballard Partners, a Florida lobbying firm that represents the company.

“they [the Trump administration] “I want to see products that are safe, regulated and tested,” Rivers told CNBC’s “Fast Monday” on Thursday night, adding that she interprets the White House language as a signal that the administration intends to rein in the chaotic market rather than expand it unchecked.

“Millions of Americans use medical cannabis,” Rivers said. “The President is very clear that he wants people to have access to safe, regulated, and thoughtful products in controlled environments.”

Rivers attended two events before the inauguration, including a dinner for Vice President J.D. Vance, and she reportedly joined a $1 million fundraiser at Trump’s golf club in New Jersey in August, where she urged him to reclassify marijuana, the Wall Street Journal first reported.

Trulieve’s campaign spending also supported Trump. Federal Election Commission filings show Trulieve donated $750,000 to Trump’s inauguration committee and $250,000 to MAGA Inc. super PAC.

The company reportedly played a key role in securing Trump’s support for a ballot initiative in Florida to legalize recreational cannabis for adults over 21. While the initiative failed, Florida Department of Elections records show Trulieve spent more than $100 million on the election.

The president also received statements from pollster Fabrizio, who has his own connections to the issue.

The PAC, a major cannabis-backed political action committee, paid leading firm Fabrizio six figures to conduct a poll that found widespread voter support for rescheduling, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

During Thursday’s signing ceremony, Trump referenced Fabrizio’s data several times, highlighting a poll published in March that showed widespread voter support for easing restrictions. The data showed that young voters, between the ages of 18 and 34, were the leading majority in supporting reform, with about 80%.

Fabrizio’s son, AJ Fabrizio, is also a prominent cannabis industry figure and executive who said he turned to medical marijuana to treat his epilepsy.

AJ Fabrizio created his own cannabis extract brand called IVXX — a line of CO2-extracted cannabis oil made exclusively for Terra Tech Corp, the publicly traded cannabis company that owns dispensaries like The Green Door in San Francisco and Blum in Oakland, California.

In interviews, AJ described moving from skepticism to advocacy after cannabis stopped his seizures. He also compared the future of cannabis to Standard Oil — arguing in a recent podcast interview that just as Rockefeller turned the byproducts of oil into a petrochemical empire, the cannabis industry is poised to revolutionize materials, medicine, and nutrition.