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Key Takeaways
- Six major cannabis companies donated $11.5 million to America First Agriculture Action Inc., a Trump-aligned PAC, in June 2026.
- These donations coincided with a federal announcement on marijuana rescheduling that could change the cannabis industry’s tax situation dramatically.
- The PAC’s treasurer also serves as the treasurer for Trump’s MAGA Inc., creating direct financial links between cannabis firms and Trump’s political network.
- Cannabis companies face high federal tax rates under IRC Section 280E, and rescheduling could significantly lower their tax burdens.
- The situation raises questions about the influence of wealthy cannabis operators on federal drug policy and who truly shapes rescheduling terms.
Six major cannabis multi-state operators made a combined $11.5 million Trump PAC donation to America First Agriculture Action Inc. in June 2026. Federal Election Commission records show the PAC shares a treasurer with Trump’s MAGA Inc. The cannabis industry donations arrived weeks after the DOJ announced it was moving forward with federal marijuana rescheduling.
Six of the largest cannabis companies in the United States wrote seven-figure checks last month. All to the same PAC, all within weeks of a federal rescheduling announcement that could determine whether their industry survives its current tax burden or not. The donations, first reported by Marijuana Moment, totaled $11.5 million in June alone. Combined with earlier contributions to Trump-aligned political committees, the cannabis industry has now sent at least $15.05 million toward Trump’s political network, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Nobody is pretending this is a lobbying strategy built around shared values. What’s happening here is far more direct. These are regulated companies facing effective federal tax rates that can exceed 60% of gross revenue under IRC Section 280E, operating in a legal gray zone that makes banking, expansion, and basic business operations harder than they need to be. Schedule III rescheduling would fix most of that overnight. And the person who holds significant influence over whether rescheduling happens sits atop an administration that has now received millions of dollars from the very companies awaiting his decision.
That’s the tension worth examining. Not whether the donations are legal, they are, but what they say about who gets to shape federal cannabis policy and why.
What Did $11.5 Million in a Single Month Actually Look Like?
The June 2026 Federal Election Commission filings break down as follows:
- Trulieve Inc. — $2,500,000 (June 2)
- Curaleaf Inc. — $2,500,000 (June 4)
- Verano Holdings LLC — $2,500,000 (June 5)
- Arboretum Bidco LLC (tied to AYR Wellness Inc.) — $1,000,000 (June 5)
- Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc. — $500,000 (June 5)
- Vision Management Services LLC (a subsidiary of Green Thumb Industries) — $2,500,000 (June 26)
Four of those six checks were identical: $2.5 million each, round numbers, from companies that compete with each other in the marketplace. That kind of uniformity across competitors doesn’t happen by accident. It reflects, at a minimum, a shared understanding among the industry’s biggest players about what political access costs at this particular moment in cannabis history.
These aren’t boutique operators. Trulieve alone generated $1.2 billion in revenue last year, operating nearly 239 dispensaries across eight states. Curaleaf, Green Thumb, Verano, and Ascend are similarly scaled, collectively representing hundreds of stores and cultivation facilities. When companies this large coordinate political spending, it tends to reflect a calculated and deliberate bet. Not a spontaneous expression of civic enthusiasm.
What Is America First Agriculture Action, and Who Controls It?
America First Agriculture Action Inc. is an agriculture-focused political action committee that has spent considerable effort pushing Trump to complete cannabis rescheduling. Last August, the group ran ads in Washington, D.C. zip codes that explicitly called on Trump to “reschedule cannabis and stack another win.” Shortly after Trump signed his cannabis executive order in December 2025, a similarly named nonprofit, America First Agriculture Inc., released ads applauding the move.
What makes the PAC structurally interesting is its treasurer: Charles Gantt. Gantt serves as treasurer of America First Agriculture Action Inc. and holds the same role at MAGA Inc., Trump’s own political committee. One person sits at the financial center of both the PAC receiving the cannabis money and the Trump-aligned super PAC that has separately received $2.05 million from the cannabis-industry-backed American Rights and Reform PAC.
The treasurer of the American Rights and Reform PAC is Matt Harrell, a Curaleaf executive. So a sitting corporate officer at one of the biggest cannabis companies in the country manages the finances of a group sending money to Trump’s primary political committee. That’s not an indirect connection, it’s the definition of a direct one, and it’s documented in FEC filings.
How Much Does Schedule III Actually Change a Cannabis Company’s Tax Situation?
The financial stakes behind these donations are hard to overstate. Under IRC Section 280E, cannabis companies cannot deduct ordinary business expenses because they traffic in a federally controlled substance. The practical effect is a federal tax rate that can hit 60% or more of gross revenue. For context, Trulieve reported $1.2 billion in revenue last year and still posted a $122.2 million net loss. That is what operating under 280E looks like at scale.
Schedule III reclassification would remove cannabis from the list of substances subject to 280E restrictions. For a company like Trulieve, the shift would, in CEO Kim Rivers’ own words, represent an “overnight flip” to profitability.
That framing helps explain the donation math. If rescheduling converts a nine-figure annual loss into net income, writing an $11.5 million check spread across six companies starts to look less like political generosity and more like basic financial planning. The question regulators, critics, and the public should be asking is whether federal drug policy should be moving at a pace set by companies wealthy enough to absorb that kind of political spending.
How Trump PAC Donations from Cannabis Giants Are Shaping Federal Policy
This is the question that critics, including Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, raised directly during the DEA rescheduling hearing. His argument: donations of this size from the industry’s biggest operators create an appearance problem at minimum, and a structural influence problem at worst.
The donation pattern does align closely with rescheduling milestones. The American Rights and Reform PAC sent $1 million to MAGA Inc. in March 2025. It followed with a combined $1.05 million more around January 2026, right before Trump’s rescheduling executive order in December 2025. The June 2026 donations arrived weeks after the DOJ formally announced it was moving forward with rescheduling. Each major infusion of cash corresponds to a key rescheduling event.
Small cannabis operators, equity-focused licensees, and advocates who spent years fighting for reform at the state level don’t have $2.5 million to write a single check. If the terms of federal rescheduling end up being shaped more by the companies that funded Trump’s political infrastructure than by the broader cannabis community, that’s a policy outcome worth naming clearly. Schedule III designed around the companies wealthy enough to buy political access is not the same thing as Schedule III designed around public health, equity, or the science of cannabis harm.
Where Does the DEA Rescheduling Process Stand Right Now?
Acting AG Todd Blanche announced in April that state-licensed medical marijuana products and FDA-approved cannabis derivatives immediately moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. That’s already done for the medical market. The bigger fight is over adult-use cannabis, and that question went through a formal DEA administrative hearing.
The hearing ran from June 29 through July 15,, gathering testimony from industry representatives, medical professionals, and prohibition advocates. Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius closed proceedings without scheduling oral closing arguments, directing all parties to submit post-hearing briefs by August 17. Those briefs form the evidentiary record Julius will use to write his recommendation to DEA Administrator Terrance Cole.
Cole holds final decision-making authority. He can accept or reject Julius’s recommendation, and neither the judge nor the agency has offered a timeline for when a final ruling might come. Beyond the DEA process, nine parties opposed to rescheduling have already filed a challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which runs on a completely separate track. A favorable DEA ruling could still face years of federal court litigation before producing any final legal clarity.
What the Money Trail Actually Tells Us Going Forward
Fifteen million dollars flows toward Trump’s political network while the DEA weighs a rescheduling decision that reshapes the financial reality for the companies writing those checks. That’s the situation as documented in FEC filings and court records. Whether that pattern reflects business as usual for a heavily regulated industry or something more troubling is ultimately a judgment call. But calling it charity would be dishonest, and calling it coincidence would be willfully naive.
The short-term date to watch is August 17, when post-hearing briefs are due. What Judge Julius does with those briefs, and how long Administrator Cole takes to act on the recommendation, will determine whether June’s $11.5 million was a good investment, or the opening round of a much longer political spending campaign.
Bigger picture, cannabis rescheduling is not yet settled law. Adult-use marijuana remains federally unresolved. State laws still vary significantly, and nothing at the federal level has changed for recreational markets. If you’re an operator, investor, or advocate watching this unfold, the thing to track isn’t just the DEA calendar. It’s who gets a seat at the table when the final terms are written, and who funded their ticket to get there.
Frequently Asked Questions
In June 2026, six major cannabis companies donated a combined $11.5 million to America First Agriculture Action Inc. The timing coincided with the DOJ’s announcement to move forward with marijuana rescheduling, which would remove the heavy 280E tax burden on cannabis businesses. The donations appear to be a strategic business decision driven by the significant financial benefits rescheduling would bring.
America First Agriculture Action Inc. is a pro-cannabis rescheduling PAC with direct ties to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., through their shared treasurer, Charles Gantt.
Cannabis businesses and PACs have donated at least $15.05 million to Trump-linked committees, including $11.5 million to America First Agriculture Action Inc., $2.05 million to MAGA Inc., $1.5 million to an agriculture PAC, and $1 million from Trulieve and Curaleaf to Trump’s inaugural committee.
Critics are concerned that large cannabis companies donating to the president’s political committees while lobbying for federal rescheduling creates a pay-to-play appearance. They worry that any rescheduling framework may ultimately favor well-funded industry incumbents over the broader cannabis community.
