President Donald Trump's decision Thursday to sign an executive order easing federal restrictions on marijuana (and clearing the way for a Medicare pilot program covering CBD) caps a year-long coordinated push by the cannabis industry that combined traditional lobbying, sizable political donations, data-driven messaging and direct outreach to the president's inner circle, industry experts told CNBC.
Despite the GOP's longstanding opposition to loosening drug laws (including a small wave of bills from lawmakers seeking to tighten the rules after the executive order), industry advocates have claimed a victory. They see the order as a success in reframing marijuana not as a social issue but as a pro-business policy, one that finally won over a president famous for his sobriety.
“I've never been inundated with so many people” about reclassifying marijuana, Trump said during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Three figures emerged as the main architects of this policy change, according to several experts, including a CEO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed cannabis company, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. The key players were Howard Kessler, a Palm Beach billionaire and old friend of the president; Kim Rivers, CEO of cannabis giant Trulieve; and Tony Fabrizio, Trump's longtime pollster, the people said.
the billionaire
US President Donald Trump displays an executive order with Howard Kessler (R) that Trump signed in the Oval Office of the White House December 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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Kessler, known for pioneering affinity credit cards, has been in Trump's orbit since at least 2005, attending Trump's wedding to Melania Trump and appearing at Mar-a-Lago 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 promote the cause. In September, Trump shared a video from the Commonwealth Project on Truth Social that called CBD coverage “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”
Other prominent members of the Trump administration noted Kessler's influence Thursday.
During the signing ceremony, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “We would not be here today” without Kessler.
“God bless you for being a pain in the ass,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, joked to Kessler in the Oval Office. Oz added that Kessler had promised to finally stop calling the president on the issue once the order was signed.
Kessler did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House said Trump's executive order would open access to new treatments.
“The presence of several leaders of law enforcement and veterans groups at the Oval Office signing is indicative of how President Trump continues to push boundaries to support our nation's heroes,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
The CEO of the industry
Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, one of the largest U.S. cannabis companies, has also cultivated a close relationship with the Trump administration, people familiar with the matter told CNBC, specifically through a personal connection to Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
Although Wiles was not a registered lobbyist for Trulieve, he previously worked at Ballard Partners, a Florida lobbying firm that represents the company.
“They [the Trump administration] “I want to see safe, regulated and tested products,” Rivers told CNBC's “Fast Monday” Thursday night, adding that he is interpreting the White House language as a sign that the administration intends to control a chaotic market rather than expanding it unchecked.
“Millions of Americans use medical cannabis,” Rivers said. “The president is very clear that he wants people to be able to have access to safe, regulated and researched products in controlled environments.”
Rivers attended two pre-inauguration events, including a dinner for Vice President JD Vance, and reportedly joined a $1 million-a-plate fundraiser at Trump's New Jersey golf club in August, where she urged him to reclassify marijuana, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
Trulieve's campaign spending also supported Trump. Documents filed with the Federal Election Commission show Trulieve donated $750,000 to Trump's inaugural committee and $250,000 to his super PAC MAGA Inc..
The company reportedly played a key role in securing Trump's support for a ballot initiative in Florida to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older. While the effort failed, Florida Division of Elections records show Trulieve spent more than $100 million on the election.
the pollster
The president also received data from his pollster, Fabrizio, who has his own ties to the issue.
American Rights and Reform, a cannabis-backed super PAC, paid six figures to the company Fabrizio runs to conduct a poll that found broad voter support for rescheduling, according to FEC filings.
During Thursday's signing ceremony, Trump referenced Fabrizio's data several times, highlighting a poll released in March that illustrated broad voter support for easing restrictions. The data showed that young voters, aged between 18 and 34, were the leading majority in support for the reform at around 80%.
Fabrizio's son, AJ Fabrizio, is also a vocal figure in the cannabis industry and a CEO who has said he turned to medical marijuana to treat his own epilepsy.
AJ Fabrizio created his own brand of cannabis extract called IVXX, a line of carbon dioxide-extracted hash oil made exclusively for Terra Tech Corp., a publicly traded cannabis company that owns dispensaries such as The Green Door in San Francisco and Blum in Oakland, California.
In interviews, AJ described going from skepticism to defense after cannabis stopped his seizures. He has also compared the future of cannabis to “Standard Oil,” arguing in a recent podcast interview that, just as Rockefeller turned petroleum byproducts into a petrochemical empire, the cannabis industry is poised to revolutionize materials, medicine and nutrition.
