{"id":2595218,"date":"2026-04-26T05:30:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-turns-to-maha-for-positive-press-amid-iran-war-backlash\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T05:33:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:33:02","slug":"trump-turns-to-maha-for-positive-press-amid-iran-war-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-turns-to-maha-for-positive-press-amid-iran-war-backlash\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump turns to MAHA for positive press amid Iran war backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-turns-to-maha-for-positive-press-amid-iran-war-backlash%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2595218&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article says President Donald Trump is using policies aligned with the \u201cMake America Healthy again\u201d (MAHA) agenda to reshape domestic political news while foreign-policy troubles-especially around Iran-remain in focus.<\/p>\n<p>In a rapid series of moves over two days, the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >acting attorney general reclassified state-licensed medical marijuana<\/a> from Schedule I to Schedule III, and the White House announced a deal aimed at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/votes-on-build-back-better-infrastructure-bill-delayed-as-democrats-scramble-to-reach-agreement-on-lowering-drug-costs\/\" title=\"Votes On Build Back Better, Infrastructure Bill Delayed As Democrats Scramble To Reach Agreement On Lowering Drug Costs\">lowering drug costs<\/a>. The FDA also said it plans to fast-track psychedelic treatments for serious mental illnesses. in parallel, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin hinted at a rule to treat \u201cadvanced recycling\u201d as manufacturing under the Clean Air Act.<\/p>\n<p>White House spokespeople frame these steps as \u201cpromises made, promises kept\u201d and cite campaign commitments to expand research and treatment options, including for veterans and patients. Advocates-including organizations tied to prescription psychedelics and other MAHA-aligned groups-praised the changes. The piece also notes that podcast host Joe Rogan, previously critical of Trump\u2019s foreign policy, attended the White House after Trump signed an executive order reviewing psychedelic drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Though, some experts warn MAHA\u2019s broad and internally diverse coalition may not fully align around these wins. The article points to continuing conflict inside MAHA, including disputes over medicalization of marijuana. It also highlights major upcoming activism: over 1,000 MAHA advocates are expected to protest at the Supreme Court over an ongoing legal fight related to glyphosate (RoundUp), where the court will consider whether Bayer should receive shielding from liability.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>As the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iran\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"100\">Iran<\/a> war continues with no end in sight, President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump<\/a> is leaning on his Make America Healthy Again coalition to shift the political conversation and generate more favorable headlines at home.<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of two days, the strategy was on full display. Acting Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/todd-blanche\/\">Todd Blanche<\/a> reclassified state-licensed medical <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marijuana\/\">marijuana<\/a> from a Schedule I to a less-regulated Schedule III drug on Thursday. That same day, the White House announced a new deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4541874\/fda-fast-tracks-psychedelic-drug-research-following-trump-executive-order\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>FDA fast-tracks psychedelic drug research following Trump executive order<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4540627\/maha-protest-outside-supreme-court-over-roundup-case\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>MAHA to protest outside of Supreme Court over RoundUp case<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4541233\/anti-abortion-republicans-call-nih-stop-human-embryonic-research\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Anti-abortion Republicans call on NIH to stop human embryonic stem cell research<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/fda\/\">Food and Drug Administration<\/a> also\u00a0announced actions to fast-track the use of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4534624\/trump-sign-executive-order-psychedelic-drug-ptsd-rogan\/\">psychedelic treatments<\/a> for serious mental illness on Friday. The use of psychedelics has long been pushed for by some parts of the MAHA coalition, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin also teased on Friday that his agency is working on a \u201crule that would recognize advanced recycling as manufacturing under the Clean Air Act rather than waste management,\u201d according to an op-ed he wrote in <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/energy-environment\/5843291-trumps-epa-has-a-plan-to-unmake-plastic-waste\/\">The Hill<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4540202\/todd-blanche-federal-reclassification-medical-marijuana\/\">TODD BLANCHE ORDERS FEDERAL RECLASSIFICATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA AS LESS DANGEROUS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The flurry of policy moves reflects a \u201cpromises made, promises kept\u201d push that also doubles as a political counterweight to difficult foreign policy headlines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPushing MAHA policies has been a Day One priority for President Trump, and expanding medical research into cannabis and other substances for American veterans and patients was a campaign trail promise by the President,\u201d said White House spokesman Kush Desai in a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cWhen President Trump pledged to Make America Healthy Again, he launched a nationwide movement that the Administration is focused on delivering for with one historic policy shift after another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4541874\/fda-fast-tracks-psychedelic-drug-research-following-trump-executive-order\/\">FDA FAST-TRACKS PSYCHEDELIC DRUG RESEARCH FOLLOWING TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jon Kostas, executive director of the Association for Prescription Psychedelics, praised the Trump administration for fast-tracking of psychedelic treatments, as did other advocates. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump and this administration have shown the courage and urgency that this crisis demands,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are grateful to see that commitment reflected in federal policy and applaud every step toward getting these life-saving medicines to the patients who need them most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled with the administration, and we\u2019re unabashedly supportive,\u201d said Robert Houton, the founder of Mobilizing Accountability in Congress for a Healthier America Coalition. The group is working on Capitol Hill to champion a forthcoming Dear Colleague letter that would pressure members of Congress to enact extended data exclusivity for FDA-regulated botanical drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Even the popular podcaster Joe Rogan, who had begun publicly criticizing the Trump administration over its foreign policy, appeared at the White House last week when Trump signed an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/governors-unveil-plan-to-end-bidens-border-crisis-were-not-going-to-sit-around-while-biden-refuses-to-act\/\" title=\"Governors Unveil Plan To End Biden\u2019s Border Crisis: \u2018We\u2019re Not Going To Sit Around While Biden Refuses To Act\u2019\">executive order ordering<\/a> a quick review of psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine.<\/p>\n<p>The burst of MAHA-aligned policy comes as the administration faces mounting scrutiny abroad. The White House has been dogged by tough headlines following the collapse of a second round of peace deal negotiations with Tehran this week.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has repeatedly declined to explain when the extension of the Iran-U.S. ceasefire will end, but special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will head to Pakistan on Saturday for a new round of talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want to rush myself, you know, because every source says, oh, Trump is under time pressure,\u201d Trump told reporters while speaking in the Oval Office. \u201cI\u2019m not. No, no, you know, who\u2019s under time pressure, they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The White House\u2019s MAHA turn could also help shore up a coalition that has grown somewhat disappointed in the administration after more than 15 months in office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you do look at the public polling on this issue, it is overwhelmingly popular with the vast majority of Americans,\u201d White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday about rescheduling marijuana. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the rescheduling will lead to more research into cannabis as a drug, especially for those who need it for medical treatment,\u201d Leavitt continued. \u201cAnd so the president was willing to take this step to do that at the behest of the American public, who largely support it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But some experts warn that because of MAHA\u2019s diverse coalition and interests, the recent policies won\u2019t necessarily tamp down some of the issues within the movement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just not a huge win,\u201d said Jennifer Galardi, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. \u201cJoe Rogan isn\u2019t the only person \u2026 just because he\u2019s a huge influencer, like that doesn\u2019t really carry a lot of weight with MAHA moms, which are the core foundation, I think, of the group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the thing about marijuana, there\u2019s, in fact, a contingency of the MAHA group that decries over medicalization,\u201d Galardi added. \u201cEspecially when it comes to psychiatric alleviation, they\u2019re very skeptical of anything that is kind of supported by the bureaucracy or the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, the White House invited MAHA advocates to a roundtable listening session that <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/04\/24\/erika-kirk-helped-bring-maha-trumps-white-house-after-pesticide-dustup-00889635\"><em>Politico<\/em> reported<\/a> was partly organized by Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk.<\/p>\n<p>But despite that meeting, on Monday, more than <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4540627\/maha-protest-outside-supreme-court-over-roundup-case\/\">1,000 MAHA advocates<\/a> will descend on the Supreme Court to protest the administration\u2019s support for Bayer in a case on the handling of the herbicide glyphosate, the main chemical in <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/4483250\/glyphosate-make-america-healthy-again-robert-f-kennedy-jr\/\">RoundUp<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2025\/24-1068\"><em>Monsanto Company v. Durnell<\/em><\/a>  case, which will decide whether Bayer, the maker of RoundUp, should be held legally liable for not informing its customers that glyphosate could cause cancer. (In 2018, Bayer, a German biotechnology company, purchased Monsanto and its product RoundUp.) <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will be devastating if they secure a liability shield,\u201d Galardi said about Monsanto. \u201cBecause it will prevent states from \u2026 carving out their own laws, and basically it erases thousands and thousands of cases pending in the courts, for Monsanto, for Bayer.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4540627\/maha-protest-outside-supreme-court-over-roundup-case\/\">MAHA TO PROTEST OUTSIDE OF SUPREME COURT OVER ROUNDUP CASE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yet even a disappointing ruling at the high court doesn\u2019t mean the MAHA movement is defeated or should completely go scorched earth on the administration. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we lose in one area. It doesn\u2019t mean we should abandon ship,\u201d Galardi said. \u201cThis is who we have. This is politics. It\u2019s ugly. It\u2019s messy. You rarely get what you want 100% of the time; you\u2019re lucky if you get what you want half the time.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><em>Gabrielle Etzel contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Iran conflict drags on, Trump boosts MAHA to steer coverage home and tout policy wins, including lowering medical marijuana classification and accelerating drug research<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2658,"featured_media":2595219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP25240592243323_430ddc.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[75205,40358,32140,32504,3634],"class_list":["post-2595218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-iran-war-2","tag-maha","tag-media-coverage","tag-political-strategy","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP25240592243323_430ddc.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2595218"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2595222,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595218\/revisions\/2595222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2595219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2595218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2595218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2595218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}