The major marijuana company Trulieve contributed $750,000 to President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee following his election last November, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.
Combined with the $250,000 that another cannabis company, Curaleaf, donated to the inauguration via U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC), Trump’s team took in at least $1 million from the marijuana industry ahead of his swearing-in ceremony for a second term.
Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers also personally met with Trump last year prior to his endorsement of a Florida cannabis legalization ballot initiative that her company largely funded the campaign for but which ultimately fell short of being enacted.
She also attended two pre-inauguration events: a dinner celebrating Vice President J.D. Vance and a separate candlelight dinner.
On December 5, FEC records show Trulieve contributed $500,000 to the inaugural committee. Then on December 20, it donated another $250,000.
Whether the cannabis company feels it has so far seen any return on investment with respect to its efforts to shape federal marijuana policy is uncertain. Marijuana Moment reached out to Trulieve for comment, but a representative was not immediately available.
The company, meanwhile, is funding a new effort to put another cannabis legalization measure on Florida’s ballot in 2026.
In addition to endorsing the earlier Florida legalization measure, Trump on the campaign trail also backed federal rescheduling and freeing up banks to work with state-legal marijuana businesses. But he’s been publicly silent on the issue since taking office.
Meanwhile, other industry stakeholders have separately sought to appeal to the president in hopes that he will proactively act to advance the reforms he supported while campaigning.
For example, a marijuana industry-backed political action committee (PAC) has released a series of ads over recent weeks that have attacked former President Joe Biden’s cannabis policy record as well as the nation of Canada, promoting sometimes misleading claims about the last administration while making the case that Trump can deliver on reform.
Its latest ad accused Biden and his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of waging a “deep state war” against medical cannabis patients—but without mentioning that the former president himself initiated the rescheduling process that marijuana companies want to see completed under Trump.
Adding uncertainty to that process, Trump’s pick to lead DEA, Terrance Cole, is on record repeatedly voicing concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linking its use to higher suicide risk among youth.
The current acting administrator, Derek Maltz, has separately made a series of sensational claims about marijuana, calling it a gateway drug that sets children up to use other substances, suggesting marijuana use is linked to school shootings and alleging that the Justice Department “hijacked” the cannabis rescheduling process from DEA.
Earlier this month, DEA notified an agency judge that the marijuana rescheduling process is still on hold—with no future actions currently scheduled as the matter sits before Maltz.
Separately, a poll found that a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms. And notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
The survey showed that majorities of overall voters (70 percent) and GOP voters (67 percent) back rescheduling cannabis.
The survey was first noted by CNN in a report last month that quoted a White House spokesperson saying the administration currently has “no action” planned on marijuana reform proposals, including those like rescheduling and industry banking access that Trump endorsed on the campaign trail last year.
The White House has also said that marijuana rescheduling is not a part of Trump’s drug policy priorities for the first year of his second term—a disappointment for advocates and stakeholders who hoped to see him take speedier action.
Meanwhile, former marijuana prisoners who received clemency from Trump during his first term staged an event outside the White House last week, expressing gratitude for the relief they were given and calling on the new administration to grant the same kind of help to others who are still behind bars for cannabis.
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