Business
Major Cannabis Companies Steer Millions to Trump-Linked PAC
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Six of the largest U.S. marijuana operators steered a combined $11.5 million into a Trump-aligned super PAC in June 2026, a burst of political spending that arrives while the same companies wait on a federal rescheduling decision worth far more to their books than the checks they wrote. The contributions, disclosed in federal campaign finance filings, went to America First Agriculture Action Inc., a committee that shares a treasurer with President Donald Trump’s own political operation.
The recipient is not a household name, but its paperwork draws a straight line to the White House. America First Agriculture Action is registered as an independent-expenditure super PAC, and its treasurer, Charles Gantt, is the same person listed as treasurer of MAGA Inc., a hybrid committee that functions as Trump’s main super PAC and has raised more than $342 million this cycle. For the cannabis industry, that overlap is the whole point: the money is aimed at the administration now deciding how far to take marijuana reform.
Who wrote the checks
The June contributions came from a tight cluster of publicly traded multistate operators, most writing identical $2.5 million checks:
- Trulieve — $2.5 million
- Curaleaf — $2.5 million
- Verano Holdings — $2.5 million
- Vision Management Services, a subsidiary of Green Thumb Industries — $2.5 million
- Arboretum Bidco, a holding company tied to AYR Wellness — $1 million
- Ascend Wellness Holdings — $500,000
That single month of giving pushes the industry’s disclosed total to Trump-linked committees to at least $15.05 million. America First Agriculture Action has used earlier funds on advertising aimed at Washington, D.C., that casts the completion of rescheduling as another Trump campaign promise kept; the fresh $11.5 million gives it far more to spend as the decision nears.
Most of the earlier money moved through the American Rights and Reform PAC, a cannabis-industry committee whose treasurer, Matt Harrell, is a Curaleaf government-affairs executive. That PAC has raised about $6.8 million this cycle from the same roster of operators, routing $2.05 million to MAGA Inc. and $1.5 million to the agriculture super PAC while running ads that press Trump to finish what he started.
Why the money makes financial sense
For companies that spend most of the year fighting to stay cash-positive, seven-figure political donations look extravagant — until you set them against what rescheduling would save. State-legal marijuana businesses are subject to a federal tax rule that bars them from writing off ordinary operating costs such as payroll, rent, and marketing, leaving many with effective tax rates two or three times what a conventional retailer pays. Moving marijuana to Schedule III erases that penalty.
For an operator the size of Trulieve, which recently moved its listing to the New York Stock Exchange, ending that tax treatment can mean tens of millions of dollars in annual savings, alongside easier access to banking and capital. Measured against that payoff, a $2.5 million contribution is a rounding error and a rational bet. It is also modest to the recipient: MAGA Inc.’s $342 million haul this cycle dwarfs everything cannabis has given, which suggests the checks buy visibility and goodwill more than financial firepower.
The rescheduling backdrop
The spending tracks the reform calendar closely. In April 2026, the Justice Department placed state-licensed medical marijuana and FDA-approved cannabis products in Schedule III, acting on an executive order Trump signed in December 2025. That action left adult-use marijuana in Schedule I, and a DEA administrative hearing on whether to reschedule the rest of the market finished taking testimony this month. The industry’s biggest operators stand to gain the most if that broader process reaches recreational products.
The outcome is far from settled. The April action is being challenged in federal court by anti-legalization groups and Republican state attorneys general, and lawmakers have questioned whether Congress could block the change. That uncertainty helps explain the timing. Several donors are managing strained balance sheets at the same time — Ascend Wellness and Curaleaf each pushed through reverse stock splits this year to defend their exchange listings — which makes the choice to divert millions toward a political committee a pointed statement of priorities.
What the filings do not show is any promised return. No public record ties the donations to the rescheduling decision, and the companies have described the payments simply as contributions. For now, the industry’s largest players are wagering that proximity to the administration — measured in millions of dollars and a shared treasurer — improves the odds that the most valuable tax change in cannabis finally arrives.
