GDELTWashington D.C.
Goldstein: 1.3Tone: -1.5
Trump deepens the dustup with Italy’s Meloni over a disputed photo from the G7 summit
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, insisting that she asked “over and over” for a photo with him at the recent Group of Seven summit and criticizing what he said was Italy’s lack of cooperation during the Iran war.
The remarks deepen the spat that began this week with the Republican president’s interview with an Italian broadcaster, during which Trump claimed Meloni “begged” for the photo during the G7 meeting in France. Meloni has called that “completely fabricated.” The dustup led Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a planned trip to the United States as Meloni’s government lined up in her defense.
“Italian Prime Minister Gigiorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his social media platform while spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat. He misspelled her first name in the initial post, which he later corrected.
He continued: “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!).”
Trump’s comments were aired Friday on the La7 network. A correspondent had asked the president about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and made the claim about the photo. Trump said he was not obliged to take the picture with her but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster put a dubbed version of the conversation online, but not the original English audio.
In his post, Trump also complained that Meloni would not allow the U.S. to use Italy’s landing strips or runways during the Iran war even though the U.S. is a leader in defense spending among NATO allies. That is a long-standing complaint about the military alliance and one that Trump raised before his White House meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the NATO summit in Turkey next month.
Italy, a key logistics hub for the U.S., declined in March to allow American bombers headed for the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without parliamentary approval. Trump vented his frustration about Meloni and on Saturday claimed that she “wants to be friends again” in light of the initial deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war.
Open article →GDELTFlorida
Goldstein: -2.0Tone: -4.1
Italy’s Meloni accuses Trump of fabricating G7 photo story
ROME >> Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused her one-time close ally, Donald Trump, of fabricating a story about her today, after the president told an Italian TV channel that she had “begged” him to take a photo with her at a G7 summit.
Meloni said she was “astonished” by his comments, which were “completely made up.” She also chided him for acting with far greater deference to the enemies of the West than he does toward old, established allies.
Their pointed exchange marks a significant deterioration in ties, coming just days after signs emerged at the G7 summit that the two right-wing leaders had steadied a relationship strained by tensions over the conflict in the Middle East.
Underscoring how much Trump’s comments have angered Meloni’s government, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani pulled out of a visit to the United States next week. A U.S.-Italy business conference scheduled for Monday in Miami was also called off after Tajani canceled his visit, the Italian embassy said.
The U.S. State Department did not respond when asked about Tajani’s canceled trip.
Video from the event in France showed Meloni and Trump deep in conversation, sitting side-by-side on a small sofa, but the leader suggested he had merely been indulging her.
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“She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her,” Trump was quoted as saying by La7 TV channel in a brief interview, after he himself asked the journalist about Italy’s prime minister.
“She begged me to take a picture with her. She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said, according to La7’s translation.
A European diplomatic source said Meloni was one of the most forceful voices at the G7, openly challenging Trump on several points. The source said she firmly defended Europe’s stance, telling Trump he should stop saying he had been abandoned by Western allies, stressing that they had been supportive.
Meloni responded swiftly to the president’s comments.
“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up. I am frankly astonished. I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this toward his allies: it is not the first time, moreover,” she said in a video posted on social media.
“I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence,” she said, adding: “There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
In an interview with NBC News today, Trump continued his criticism of Meloni.
“She was a big fan,” Trump was quoted as saying by the network. “But I don’t want her as a fan because she was not there — along with the NATO group — having to do with the strait.”
NATO allies, including Italy, angered Trump by refusing to be drawn into the war on Iran or help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
One of Meloni’s closest political allies, who usually shuns the media spotlight, struck out at Trump using a tone that would have been unthinkable beforehand.
“It is unclear whether out of intent or ineptitude (Trump) is wrecking the historic relations between the United States and Europe,” Giovanbattista Fazzolari, undersecretary to the prime minister’s office, said in a statement.
“With his inappropriate outbursts, he has managed no easy feat, to make the United States unpopular across the entire European continent, damaging not only Europe but above all the United States,” he added.
Meloni was once a vocal supporter of Trump and was the only European leader to attend his inauguration in 2025.
However, she criticized him this year for lashing out at Pope Leo over his condemnation of the Iran conflict. That in turn prompted a blunt rebuke from the president, who accused her of lacking courage.
Additional reporting by John Irish, Ismail Shakil and Humeyra Pamuk.
Open article →NPRUnited States
Goldstein: -2.0Tone: 33.3CAMEO 11
Italy's Meloni, once Trump's closest ally in Europe, says he made up a story about her
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has accused President Trump of fabricating a story that she "begged" him for a photo at the G7 summit, in a stunning public break between the two leaders once considered allies.
"Donald Trump's statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned," Meloni said in a video posted on X Friday. "I don't know why the president of the United States behaves like this toward his own allies. After all, it is not the first time."
She added: "I can only say it's a shame he doesn't show the same resolve toward with the enemies of the West and toward the enemies of the United States — toward leaders with whom he, on the other hand, is much more accommodating. But there is one thing he should remember: Italy and I do not beg."
Meloni was responding to comments Trump allegedly made during a phone interview with an Italian journalist. NPR has not been able to independently verify what Trump said.
Italian television broadcaster La7 aired a dubbed version of the interview and Italian politicians have been reacting to it. According to La7's Italian translation, Trump said that Meloni was likely happy he talked to her and "begged" to have their picture taken together.
Trump and Meloni had just wrapped up the three-day political summit in Evian, France, where they held a number of photo ops together.
The journalist who conducted the interview, Daniele Compatengelo, did not immediately respond to NPR's request to hear the original recording. La7 has only released a dubbed Italian translation of the audio, making independent verification of Trump's exact words in English impossible.
The White House did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on the issue and the accuracy of Trump's quotes.
But the Italian government is pushing back forcefully.
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he was canceling a planned trip to the U.S. this weekend, calling the alleged comments "serious and offensive" to all of Italy.
Across Italy, politicians on all sides rallied around Meloni.
"Whoever attacks Giorgia Meloni attacks all of us," Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on X.
Even Meloni's political opponents came to her defense.
Matteo Renzi, a center-left former prime minister, called Trump's statements "horrifying, as always" — adding a pointed jab at the far-right Meloni, that she had "finally" noticed too.
In a lengthy post on X, Renzi called on Meloni to abandon her ties to Trump and said "the global right has failed."
Meloni, who took office in 2022 as Italy's first female prime minister, was once seen as one of Trump's strongest allies in Europe. She was the only European Union leader invited to Trump's second inauguration in January 2025.
But their relationship started to fracture in April, when Trump began attacking Pope Leo XIV on social media after the pontiff condemned U.S. military action in Iran.
"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, adding, "I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon."
Meloni then called Trump's attacks "unacceptable."
Trump shot back at Meloni, telling the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: "I thought she had courage, but I was wrong."
AP contributed to this report.
Open article →BBCUnited States
Goldstein: 0.0CAMEO 01
Italy's Meloni says Trump 'made up' story that she 'begged' him for photo at G7
Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said she is astonished after President Donald Trump told Italian TV she had "begged" him for a picture with her, in comments that have provoked an open row between the two leaders.
Meloni said Trump's comments were entirely "made-up", and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has cancelled a trip to the US early next week.
The highly public exchange is an indication of how far their earlier close ties have frayed in the months since Trump's decision to go to war with Iran.
Trump and Meloni were seen in close conversation at the G7 summit at Evian-les-Bains in eastern France this week, and the Italian leader later told reporters their relationship was unchanged and there had been "no recriminations".
However, Trump has since given a phone interview with Italy's La7 TV channel in which he alleged: "She begged me to take a photo with her; I felt sorry for her."
The two leaders were filmed several times at Evian, including while they appeared engrossed in conversation on a small sofa, with Meloni smiling as they talked.
"She's probably happy I spoke to her," he said. La7 did not produce Trump's original words in English, but voiced them over in Italian.
Meloni reacted in total disbelief, saying she was "frankly stunned", in a brief address to her seven million followers on Instagram.
"I don't know why the US president behaves this way towards allies," she said, adding it was not the first time it had happened.
"I can only say it is regrettable he does not show the same determination towards the enemies of the West and towards the enemies of the US - [enemies] whose leaders he instead appears to be far more accommodating with."
"But there is one thing he needs to remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg."
The BBC has approached the White House for comment.
Meloni's evident shock at Trump's outburst comes after a series of incidents that have weakened what had begun as a close political relationship.
Elected in 2022, Meloni was the sole European leader to attend Trump's inauguration in January 2025 and was widely seen by her EU colleagues as a potential bridge-builder with the US president.
But Meloni has been outspoken in her opposition to the US war with Iran and in April Trump hit back with a phone interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera in which he said, "I thought she had courage, but I was wrong".
When Trump accused Pope Leo XIV of being "weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy", Meloni said his remarks were unacceptable.
Responding to Trump's latest interview, Italy's President Sergio Mattarella immediately phoned Meloni to offer his support, and figures from across the political spectrum in Italy sprang to her defence.
No-one had the right to speak to an Italian prime minister in such an arrogant tone, said Filippo Sensi, a senator on the left from the opposition Democratic Party.
Italy did not deserve such humiliation, said Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte, who added that chasing favours with Washington should never come at the expense of national dignity and interest.
From Meloni's own Brothers of Italy party, Senate group leader Lucio Malan noted that Trump's words were part of a broader pattern of offensive remarks he had directed at various European leaders, and they were damaging above all to Trump's own image and authority.
Malan suggested that the video from the G7 in reality showed a very different dynamic to what Trump had described, and he suggested that what truly irritated the US president may have been Meloni's record of saying no to Washington when it became necessary.
Government ally Matteo Salvini from the League said simply: "Whoever attacks Giorgia, attacks all of us."
The falling out between Meloni and Trump is more than a mere spat. It represents a trend.
Where once European allies accommodated President Trump, now they're more ready to challenge.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called him out for his criticism of UK and allied forces in Afghanistan.
And most recently, others, as well as Meloni, have openly criticised the president for his war on Iran, refusing to allow US bombers to use their air bases.
Diplomats say European leaders have shown more resolve since the US threatened Greenland earlier this year.
Talk has resumed once again of Europe forging a more strategically autonomous path, with capitals looking to do more themselves without having to depend on an increasingly unreliable ally across the Atlantic.
These leaders may also be simply reflecting the mood of European voters ahead of upcoming elections across the continent.
Certainly, right-wing European parties, which initially saw team Trump as political fellow travellers, are now distancing themselves from their American counterparts.
Open article →NBCUnited States
Goldstein: -2.0Tone: -60.0CAMEO 11
ROME — This time, Giorgia Meloni was quick to fire back: “I and Italy never beg.”
Clearly irked at President Donald Trump’s suggestion that she had had “begged” him for a photo at the Group of Seven summit earlier this week, the Italian prime minister said this was “totally fabricated.”
The dispute erupted after Trump told Italian broadcaster La7 that Meloni had pleaded with him for a photo at the meeting of leading industrialized nations in the French resort of Evian-les-Bains earlier this week.
“She begged me to take a photo with her. She wanted a photo with me so badly — I could have skipped it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said in the brief interview, which was posted by the channel to its website Friday.
In her response, the Italian leader said she was “stunned” by Trump’s comments, before taking aim at Trump’s broader approach to international relations, suggesting he treats longtime Western allies with less respect than he shows their adversaries.
“I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way with his own allies,” Meloni said. “It’s not, after all, the first time this has happened.”
She appeared to be referring to an April interview Trump gave to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in which he criticized Meloni’s refusal to back U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Meloni didn’t respond publicly at the time.
Their most recent clash quickly escalated as Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemned Trump’s comments as “serious” and “offensive” to the entirety of Italy.
He also announced that he was canceling a planned trip to the U.S. next week.
Video footage from the G7 appeared to show Meloni and Trump engaged in an extended one-on-one conversation while seated together on a small sofa.
But Trump portrayed the interaction as something he had granted rather than sought out.
“She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her,” Trump told La7 after raising the subject of the Italian prime minister himself during the interview.
Only a dubbed version of the interview was made public, and the original audio was not released by the Italian broadcaster.
Another video from the summit showed Meloni speaking and gesturing animatedly as Trump listened with little visible reaction.
Later during a phone call with NBC News, Trump doubled down on his claim that Meloni has begged for a picture together.
“That’s true,” he said. “She wasn’t there for us.”
“She was a big fan but I don’t want her as a fan because she was not there — along with the NATO group — having to do with the strait,” he added, referring to the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that Iran blocked after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks in late February.
Trump has complained that NATO allies did not offer help to American forces after the war began.
Once regarded as one of Trump’s closest political allies in Europe, Meloni attended his inauguration in January 2025. She was the only European leader present at the ceremony.
Trump also has previously spoken warmly of Meloni, whose right-wing populist Brothers of Italy party was part of a broader rise in nationalist and populist movements across Europe.
When the two met at his Mar-a-Lago resort in January last year, Trump called her a “fantastic woman” who was “really taking Europe by storm.”
The latest war of words marks a dramatic downturn in relations between the two right-wing leaders.
Earlier this year, Meloni criticized Trump after he lashed out at Pope Leo XIV over the pontiff’s condemnation of the Iran war.
Trump responded by accusing the Italian prime minister of lacking courage, exposing divisions that had strained what was once viewed as a strong political partnership.
Claudio Lavanga reported from Rome and Elmira Aliieva from London.
Open article →GDELTOhio
Goldstein: -3.6Tone: -1.8
Addictive gas station drug finds allies in Trump’s cabinet
For years, federal health officials have warned about the risks associated with a supplement derived from the leaves of kratom trees that adherents say can kill pain or boost energy. Sold in gas stations across America, kratom has been linked to liver toxicity, seizures and thousands of deaths.
Powerful figures close to President Donald Trump, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, pushed to downplay those concerns.
Mullin, until recently a Republican senator from Oklahoma, played a key role in a sprawling influence campaign spearheaded by the kratom industry that courted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vice President JD Vance, among others in the Trump administration, an investigation by The New York Times found.
Only when he was nominated by Trump in March to lead the Homeland Security Department did it become clear that Mullin had a financial connection to the supplement. In a disclosure statement, he listed an investment worth as much as $1 million in a kratom company, Botanic Tonics, that could benefit from the changes he has sought.
The company’s founder, Jerry W. Ross — who had been an energy executive in Mullin’s home state before pleading guilty to a financial crime — is a leading player in the influence campaign that was devised to benefit kratom at the expense of its rivals in the marketplace.
The kratom campaign underscores how corporations in the growing wellness industry can gain traction in Trump’s government by casting risky products as aligned with the administration’s Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, agenda championed by Kennedy, who has sometimes prioritized unproven remedies over science.
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In July, while still a senator, Mullin showed up at a Food and Drug Administration news conference and endorsed proposed federal restrictions on more powerful synthetic supplements that compete with kratom for shelf space. In explaining his position, Mullin pointed to a history of addiction in his family, though health experts say kratom products have also been shown to be addictive.
His disclosure form did not indicate when he acquired his stake in Botanic Tonics, but he has not filed paperwork to indicate that he has divested from it.
The Homeland Security Department did not answer questions about the investment. In a statement, the department said that Mullin “follows all ethics and conflict of interest standards and has not lobbied for any individual or company.”
The restrictions that Mullin supported on the synthetic products would have been a boon to Ross’ company and others in the kratom industry, which market their supplements as safer and more natural. The kratom companies used donations and lobbyists to push for the crackdown.
“It’s not pay to play. It’s pay to have conversations. It’s pay to have a chance at the table,” Ryan Niddel, CEO of Diversified Botanics, another kratom company involved in the effort, said in an interview with the Times. “And anybody that considers any of the lobbying work or any of the governmental work that goes on being different than that, I think has their head buried in the sand at this point.
“I mean, that is the world that we live in.”
The Times’ investigation — drawn from campaign finance data, lobbying disclosures, court filings, private correspondence and dozens of interviews — found the following:
— Ross ramped up his donations to Kennedy’s defunct presidential campaign after Trump chose him to be health secretary. Ross privately boasted that he was “working on a plan for Bobby.”
— The FDA in 2025 deleted links on its kratom webpage that detailed a then-pending legal case against Ross’ company, Botanic Tonics, after his allies pushed for the change.
— Botanic Tonics had been sued by the federal government for illegally selling kratom products that were not proven safe, which the company disputed. But in December, the Justice Department suddenly moved to drop the case — which the company celebrated as a sign of the federal government’s receptiveness to kratom.
— Kennedy, as health secretary, called the governor of Ohio to try to head off a state ban on kratom in the fall of 2025. Months later, Botanic Tonics donated $1 million to a political committee associated with Kennedy.
— Ross, joined by influential lobbyist Ches McDowell, used donations to secure a private audience with Vance to lobby him about the benefits of kratom and to urge the ban on the synthetic products.
Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, suggested the administration was not swayed by the influence campaign, even though Trump recently made comments about needing to address the matter.
“The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s healthcare policymaking is gold standard science,” he said in a statement. The administration, he added, was working “to get this critical matter correct and ensure the health and safety of Americans.”
The Health and Human Services Department and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Ross.
The administration’s receptiveness to kratom comes as Trump has also expressed a willingness to loosen rules covering other drugs backed by influence campaigns, including cannabis and psychedelics. The permissive posture stands in contrast to Trump’s baseless skepticism about highly regulated and widely used medications like Tylenol and vaccines.
“It’s looking like we have a coin-operated drug policy that basically responds to whoever will give money,” said Kevin Sabet, who worked on drug policy under Republican and Democratic presidents. “And it threatens public health and safety because it’s going around the scientific process in favor of donors and influencers.”
A Rising Scourge
Long used medicinally in Southeast Asia, the leaves of the kratom tree contain a compound called mitragynine that interacts with the brain’s opioid receptors in a manner said to produce mild pain relief and — depending on its preparation — either sedation or energy and focus.
Kratom started gaining popularity in the United States in the early 2010s as the opioid addiction epidemic raged. With doctors tightening access to powerful prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, users spread the word that kratom — initially sold as a bitter-tasting powder — could produce a similar effect.
Devotees promoted it as a way to kick opioid addiction or to replace alcohol. But as reports of negative effects started rolling in, the government tried to take action.
Under the Obama administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration described kratom as “a drug and chemical of concern,” and moved to greatly restrict access by classifying it as a Schedule I drug. Doing so would have defined it as having no medicinal value, making it illegal to sell.
The proposal was withdrawn weeks later amid backlash from the fledgling industry, kratom users and members of Congress.
Another proposal to restrict access during the first Trump administration was also pulled after lobbying by an industry trade group, over the objection of Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner at the time.
Kratom took off, appearing on the shelves of convenience stores and vape shops as tablets, drinks and gummies. The products varied in strength, and the concentration of active ingredients on the labels was not always accurate. They could be purchased in many states without age verification.
From 2020 through 2024, kratom was found in the system of more than 5,200 people who died of drug overdoses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on death certificates and other official reports. Though kratom was often found in combination with other drugs, one study determined that those using kratom carried a sixfold increase in the risk of overdose death.
Wyatt Wheeler, 27, was pursuing a master’s degree in busi
Open article →GDELTNew York
Goldstein: -5.3Tone: -1.8
Addictive gas station drug finds allies in Trump’s cabinet
For years, federal health officials have warned about the risks associated with a supplement derived from the leaves of kratom trees that adherents say can kill pain or boost energy. Sold in gas stations across America, kratom has been linked to liver toxicity, seizures and thousands of deaths.
Powerful figures close to President Donald Trump, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, pushed to downplay those concerns.
Mullin, until recently a Republican senator from Oklahoma, played a key role in a sprawling influence campaign spearheaded by the kratom industry that courted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vice President JD Vance, among others in the Trump administration, an investigation by The New York Times found.
Only when he was nominated by Trump in March to lead the Homeland Security Department did it become clear that Mullin had a financial connection to the supplement. In a disclosure statement, he listed an investment worth as much as $1 million in a kratom company, Botanic Tonics, that could benefit from the changes he has sought.
The company’s founder, Jerry W. Ross — who had been an energy executive in Mullin’s home state before pleading guilty to a financial crime — is a leading player in the influence campaign that was devised to benefit kratom at the expense of its rivals in the marketplace.
The kratom campaign underscores how corporations in the growing wellness industry can gain traction in Trump’s government by casting risky products as aligned with the administration’s Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, agenda championed by Kennedy, who has sometimes prioritized unproven remedies over science.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
In July, while still a senator, Mullin showed up at a Food and Drug Administration news conference and endorsed proposed federal restrictions on more powerful synthetic supplements that compete with kratom for shelf space. In explaining his position, Mullin pointed to a history of addiction in his family, though health experts say kratom products have also been shown to be addictive.
His disclosure form did not indicate when he acquired his stake in Botanic Tonics, but he has not filed paperwork to indicate that he has divested from it.
The Homeland Security Department did not answer questions about the investment. In a statement, the department said that Mullin “follows all ethics and conflict of interest standards and has not lobbied for any individual or company.”
The restrictions that Mullin supported on the synthetic products would have been a boon to Ross’ company and others in the kratom industry, which market their supplements as safer and more natural. The kratom companies used donations and lobbyists to push for the crackdown.
“It’s not pay to play. It’s pay to have conversations. It’s pay to have a chance at the table,” Ryan Niddel, CEO of Diversified Botanics, another kratom company involved in the effort, said in an interview with the Times. “And anybody that considers any of the lobbying work or any of the governmental work that goes on being different than that, I think has their head buried in the sand at this point.
“I mean, that is the world that we live in.”
The Times’ investigation — drawn from campaign finance data, lobbying disclosures, court filings, private correspondence and dozens of interviews — found the following:
— Ross ramped up his donations to Kennedy’s defunct presidential campaign after Trump chose him to be health secretary. Ross privately boasted that he was “working on a plan for Bobby.”
— The FDA in 2025 deleted links on its kratom webpage that detailed a then-pending legal case against Ross’ company, Botanic Tonics, after his allies pushed for the change.
— Botanic Tonics had been sued by the federal government for illegally selling kratom products that were not proven safe, which the company disputed. But in December, the Justice Department suddenly moved to drop the case — which the company celebrated as a sign of the federal government’s receptiveness to kratom.
— Kennedy, as health secretary, called the governor of Ohio to try to head off a state ban on kratom in the fall of 2025. Months later, Botanic Tonics donated $1 million to a political committee associated with Kennedy.
— Ross, joined by influential lobbyist Ches McDowell, used donations to secure a private audience with Vance to lobby him about the benefits of kratom and to urge the ban on the synthetic products.
Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, suggested the administration was not swayed by the influence campaign, even though Trump recently made comments about needing to address the matter.
“The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s healthcare policymaking is gold standard science,” he said in a statement. The administration, he added, was working “to get this critical matter correct and ensure the health and safety of Americans.”
The Health and Human Services Department and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Ross.
The administration’s receptiveness to kratom comes as Trump has also expressed a willingness to loosen rules covering other drugs backed by influence campaigns, including cannabis and psychedelics. The permissive posture stands in contrast to Trump’s baseless skepticism about highly regulated and widely used medications like Tylenol and vaccines.
“It’s looking like we have a coin-operated drug policy that basically responds to whoever will give money,” said Kevin Sabet, who worked on drug policy under Republican and Democratic presidents. “And it threatens public health and safety because it’s going around the scientific process in favor of donors and influencers.”
A Rising Scourge
Long used medicinally in Southeast Asia, the leaves of the kratom tree contain a compound called mitragynine that interacts with the brain’s opioid receptors in a manner said to produce mild pain relief and — depending on its preparation — either sedation or energy and focus.
Kratom started gaining popularity in the United States in the early 2010s as the opioid addiction epidemic raged. With doctors tightening access to powerful prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, users spread the word that kratom — initially sold as a bitter-tasting powder — could produce a similar effect.
Devotees promoted it as a way to kick opioid addiction or to replace alcohol. But as reports of negative effects started rolling in, the government tried to take action.
Under the Obama administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration described kratom as “a drug and chemical of concern,” and moved to greatly restrict access by classifying it as a Schedule I drug. Doing so would have defined it as having no medicinal value, making it illegal to sell.
The proposal was withdrawn weeks later amid backlash from the fledgling industry, kratom users and members of Congress.
Another proposal to restrict access during the first Trump administration was also pulled after lobbying by an industry trade group, over the objection of Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner at the time.
Kratom took off, appearing on the shelves of convenience stores and vape shops as tablets, drinks and gummies. The products varied in strength, and the concentration of active ingredients on the labels was not always accurate. They could be purchased in many states without age verification.
From 2020 through 2024, kratom was found in the system of more than 5,200 people who died of drug overdoses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on death certificates and other official reports. Though kratom was often found in combination with other drugs, one study determined that those using kratom carried a sixfold increase in the risk of overdose death.
Wyatt Wheeler, 27, was pursuing a master’s degree in busi
Open article →GDELTOklahoma
Goldstein: -4.0Tone: -1.8
Addictive gas station drug finds allies in Trump’s cabinet
For years, federal health officials have warned about the risks associated with a supplement derived from the leaves of kratom trees that adherents say can kill pain or boost energy. Sold in gas stations across America, kratom has been linked to liver toxicity, seizures and thousands of deaths.
Powerful figures close to President Donald Trump, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, pushed to downplay those concerns.
Mullin, until recently a Republican senator from Oklahoma, played a key role in a sprawling influence campaign spearheaded by the kratom industry that courted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vice President JD Vance, among others in the Trump administration, an investigation by The New York Times found.
Only when he was nominated by Trump in March to lead the Homeland Security Department did it become clear that Mullin had a financial connection to the supplement. In a disclosure statement, he listed an investment worth as much as $1 million in a kratom company, Botanic Tonics, that could benefit from the changes he has sought.
The company’s founder, Jerry W. Ross — who had been an energy executive in Mullin’s home state before pleading guilty to a financial crime — is a leading player in the influence campaign that was devised to benefit kratom at the expense of its rivals in the marketplace.
The kratom campaign underscores how corporations in the growing wellness industry can gain traction in Trump’s government by casting risky products as aligned with the administration’s Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, agenda championed by Kennedy, who has sometimes prioritized unproven remedies over science.
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In July, while still a senator, Mullin showed up at a Food and Drug Administration news conference and endorsed proposed federal restrictions on more powerful synthetic supplements that compete with kratom for shelf space. In explaining his position, Mullin pointed to a history of addiction in his family, though health experts say kratom products have also been shown to be addictive.
His disclosure form did not indicate when he acquired his stake in Botanic Tonics, but he has not filed paperwork to indicate that he has divested from it.
The Homeland Security Department did not answer questions about the investment. In a statement, the department said that Mullin “follows all ethics and conflict of interest standards and has not lobbied for any individual or company.”
The restrictions that Mullin supported on the synthetic products would have been a boon to Ross’ company and others in the kratom industry, which market their supplements as safer and more natural. The kratom companies used donations and lobbyists to push for the crackdown.
“It’s not pay to play. It’s pay to have conversations. It’s pay to have a chance at the table,” Ryan Niddel, CEO of Diversified Botanics, another kratom company involved in the effort, said in an interview with the Times. “And anybody that considers any of the lobbying work or any of the governmental work that goes on being different than that, I think has their head buried in the sand at this point.
“I mean, that is the world that we live in.”
The Times’ investigation — drawn from campaign finance data, lobbying disclosures, court filings, private correspondence and dozens of interviews — found the following:
— Ross ramped up his donations to Kennedy’s defunct presidential campaign after Trump chose him to be health secretary. Ross privately boasted that he was “working on a plan for Bobby.”
— The FDA in 2025 deleted links on its kratom webpage that detailed a then-pending legal case against Ross’ company, Botanic Tonics, after his allies pushed for the change.
— Botanic Tonics had been sued by the federal government for illegally selling kratom products that were not proven safe, which the company disputed. But in December, the Justice Department suddenly moved to drop the case — which the company celebrated as a sign of the federal government’s receptiveness to kratom.
— Kennedy, as health secretary, called the governor of Ohio to try to head off a state ban on kratom in the fall of 2025. Months later, Botanic Tonics donated $1 million to a political committee associated with Kennedy.
— Ross, joined by influential lobbyist Ches McDowell, used donations to secure a private audience with Vance to lobby him about the benefits of kratom and to urge the ban on the synthetic products.
Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, suggested the administration was not swayed by the influence campaign, even though Trump recently made comments about needing to address the matter.
“The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s healthcare policymaking is gold standard science,” he said in a statement. The administration, he added, was working “to get this critical matter correct and ensure the health and safety of Americans.”
The Health and Human Services Department and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Ross.
The administration’s receptiveness to kratom comes as Trump has also expressed a willingness to loosen rules covering other drugs backed by influence campaigns, including cannabis and psychedelics. The permissive posture stands in contrast to Trump’s baseless skepticism about highly regulated and widely used medications like Tylenol and vaccines.
“It’s looking like we have a coin-operated drug policy that basically responds to whoever will give money,” said Kevin Sabet, who worked on drug policy under Republican and Democratic presidents. “And it threatens public health and safety because it’s going around the scientific process in favor of donors and influencers.”
A Rising Scourge
Long used medicinally in Southeast Asia, the leaves of the kratom tree contain a compound called mitragynine that interacts with the brain’s opioid receptors in a manner said to produce mild pain relief and — depending on its preparation — either sedation or energy and focus.
Kratom started gaining popularity in the United States in the early 2010s as the opioid addiction epidemic raged. With doctors tightening access to powerful prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, users spread the word that kratom — initially sold as a bitter-tasting powder — could produce a similar effect.
Devotees promoted it as a way to kick opioid addiction or to replace alcohol. But as reports of negative effects started rolling in, the government tried to take action.
Under the Obama administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration described kratom as “a drug and chemical of concern,” and moved to greatly restrict access by classifying it as a Schedule I drug. Doing so would have defined it as having no medicinal value, making it illegal to sell.
The proposal was withdrawn weeks later amid backlash from the fledgling industry, kratom users and members of Congress.
Another proposal to restrict access during the first Trump administration was also pulled after lobbying by an industry trade group, over the objection of Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner at the time.
Kratom took off, appearing on the shelves of convenience stores and vape shops as tablets, drinks and gummies. The products varied in strength, and the concentration of active ingredients on the labels was not always accurate. They could be purchased in many states without age verification.
From 2020 through 2024, kratom was found in the system of more than 5,200 people who died of drug overdoses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on death certificates and other official reports. Though kratom was often found in combination with other drugs, one study determined that those using kratom carried a sixfold increase in the risk of overdose death.
Wyatt Wheeler, 27, was pursuing a master’s degree in busi
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Goldstein: -3.6Tone: -1.8
Addictive gas station drug finds allies in Trump’s cabinet
For years, federal health officials have warned about the risks associated with a supplement derived from the leaves of kratom trees that adherents say can kill pain or boost energy. Sold in gas stations across America, kratom has been linked to liver toxicity, seizures and thousands of deaths.
Powerful figures close to President Donald Trump, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, pushed to downplay those concerns.
Mullin, until recently a Republican senator from Oklahoma, played a key role in a sprawling influence campaign spearheaded by the kratom industry that courted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Vice President JD Vance, among others in the Trump administration, an investigation by The New York Times found.
Only when he was nominated by Trump in March to lead the Homeland Security Department did it become clear that Mullin had a financial connection to the supplement. In a disclosure statement, he listed an investment worth as much as $1 million in a kratom company, Botanic Tonics, that could benefit from the changes he has sought.
The company’s founder, Jerry W. Ross — who had been an energy executive in Mullin’s home state before pleading guilty to a financial crime — is a leading player in the influence campaign that was devised to benefit kratom at the expense of its rivals in the marketplace.
The kratom campaign underscores how corporations in the growing wellness industry can gain traction in Trump’s government by casting risky products as aligned with the administration’s Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, agenda championed by Kennedy, who has sometimes prioritized unproven remedies over science.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
In July, while still a senator, Mullin showed up at a Food and Drug Administration news conference and endorsed proposed federal restrictions on more powerful synthetic supplements that compete with kratom for shelf space. In explaining his position, Mullin pointed to a history of addiction in his family, though health experts say kratom products have also been shown to be addictive.
His disclosure form did not indicate when he acquired his stake in Botanic Tonics, but he has not filed paperwork to indicate that he has divested from it.
The Homeland Security Department did not answer questions about the investment. In a statement, the department said that Mullin “follows all ethics and conflict of interest standards and has not lobbied for any individual or company.”
The restrictions that Mullin supported on the synthetic products would have been a boon to Ross’ company and others in the kratom industry, which market their supplements as safer and more natural. The kratom companies used donations and lobbyists to push for the crackdown.
“It’s not pay to play. It’s pay to have conversations. It’s pay to have a chance at the table,” Ryan Niddel, CEO of Diversified Botanics, another kratom company involved in the effort, said in an interview with the Times. “And anybody that considers any of the lobbying work or any of the governmental work that goes on being different than that, I think has their head buried in the sand at this point.
“I mean, that is the world that we live in.”
The Times’ investigation — drawn from campaign finance data, lobbying disclosures, court filings, private correspondence and dozens of interviews — found the following:
— Ross ramped up his donations to Kennedy’s defunct presidential campaign after Trump chose him to be health secretary. Ross privately boasted that he was “working on a plan for Bobby.”
— The FDA in 2025 deleted links on its kratom webpage that detailed a then-pending legal case against Ross’ company, Botanic Tonics, after his allies pushed for the change.
— Botanic Tonics had been sued by the federal government for illegally selling kratom products that were not proven safe, which the company disputed. But in December, the Justice Department suddenly moved to drop the case — which the company celebrated as a sign of the federal government’s receptiveness to kratom.
— Kennedy, as health secretary, called the governor of Ohio to try to head off a state ban on kratom in the fall of 2025. Months later, Botanic Tonics donated $1 million to a political committee associated with Kennedy.
— Ross, joined by influential lobbyist Ches McDowell, used donations to secure a private audience with Vance to lobby him about the benefits of kratom and to urge the ban on the synthetic products.
Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, suggested the administration was not swayed by the influence campaign, even though Trump recently made comments about needing to address the matter.
“The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s healthcare policymaking is gold standard science,” he said in a statement. The administration, he added, was working “to get this critical matter correct and ensure the health and safety of Americans.”
The Health and Human Services Department and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Ross.
The administration’s receptiveness to kratom comes as Trump has also expressed a willingness to loosen rules covering other drugs backed by influence campaigns, including cannabis and psychedelics. The permissive posture stands in contrast to Trump’s baseless skepticism about highly regulated and widely used medications like Tylenol and vaccines.
“It’s looking like we have a coin-operated drug policy that basically responds to whoever will give money,” said Kevin Sabet, who worked on drug policy under Republican and Democratic presidents. “And it threatens public health and safety because it’s going around the scientific process in favor of donors and influencers.”
A Rising Scourge
Long used medicinally in Southeast Asia, the leaves of the kratom tree contain a compound called mitragynine that interacts with the brain’s opioid receptors in a manner said to produce mild pain relief and — depending on its preparation — either sedation or energy and focus.
Kratom started gaining popularity in the United States in the early 2010s as the opioid addiction epidemic raged. With doctors tightening access to powerful prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, users spread the word that kratom — initially sold as a bitter-tasting powder — could produce a similar effect.
Devotees promoted it as a way to kick opioid addiction or to replace alcohol. But as reports of negative effects started rolling in, the government tried to take action.
Under the Obama administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration described kratom as “a drug and chemical of concern,” and moved to greatly restrict access by classifying it as a Schedule I drug. Doing so would have defined it as having no medicinal value, making it illegal to sell.
The proposal was withdrawn weeks later amid backlash from the fledgling industry, kratom users and members of Congress.
Another proposal to restrict access during the first Trump administration was also pulled after lobbying by an industry trade group, over the objection of Scott Gottlieb, the FDA commissioner at the time.
Kratom took off, appearing on the shelves of convenience stores and vape shops as tablets, drinks and gummies. The products varied in strength, and the concentration of active ingredients on the labels was not always accurate. They could be purchased in many states without age verification.
From 2020 through 2024, kratom was found in the system of more than 5,200 people who died of drug overdoses, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on death certificates and other official reports. Though kratom was often found in combination with other drugs, one study determined that those using kratom carried a sixfold increase in the risk of overdose death.
Wyatt Wheeler, 27, was pursuing a master’s degree in busi
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