Zeller credited Gottlieb for advocating for the nicotine regulation within the Trump White House, after the Obama administration had fallen short. Obama officials had promised Zeller they would back rules to curb nicotine and menthol.

The prohibition of liquor a century ago was a disaster. Yet the FDA is setting up a repeat with its proposed ban of cigarettes.

The first week of Donald Trump's second term was so full of executive orders that it was hard to keep track of what was changing. With so many headline-making declarations—both good and bad—it was easy to miss one stellar piece of policy pushed through: the withdrawal of the Food and Drug Administration's proposal to ban menthol tobacco and