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 US Food and Drug Administration is proposing limits on the level of nicotine in cigarettes and some other types of tobacco products, such as cigars and pipe tobacco, in order to make them less addictive,

A proposed FDA rule would set nicotine levels on tobacco products at less than half the current average and could save millions of lives, proponents say.