‘The backpedal begins’: Trump backs off vaping crackdown — and he ‘profited from the vape industry’

President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to back off his crackdown on children vaping -- only two days after he announced action would be coming, with many expecting a full ban on flavored e-cigarettes.

“We have a problem in our country,” Trump said on Wednesday. “It’s a new problem, it’s a problem nobody ever really thought about too much a few years ago, and it’s called vaping. Especially vaping as it pertains to innocent children. And they’re coming home and they say, ‘Mom, I want to vape.’ And the parents don’t know too much about it, and nobody knows too much about it, but they do know it’s causing a lot of problems.”

On Friday, he was singing a different tune.

While I like the Vaping alternative to Cigarettes, we need to make sure this alternative is safe for all," Trump tweeted. "Let’s get counterfeits off the market, and keep young children from vaping!"

As president, Trump has personally "profited from the vape industry," according to journalist Zach Everson, who closely covers what goes on at Trump Hotel in Washington, DC.

Here's what people were saying about Trump's Friday evening announcement: