Marijuana Moment: Trump Is ‘Misinformed’ About Hemp THC Product Ban, GOP Senator Says

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A Republican senator who says he has a “great relationship” with President Donald Trump nonetheless is publicly saying he thinks the president is confused about the effects of hemp products.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), who recently led an unsuccessful effort to keep the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products on track for November as scheduled, said in an interview with Spectrum News that he thinks Trump has been “misinformed by his staff” about the issue.

“The president’s got a million things going on. He’s trying to fix a lot of problems, including a 50-year Iran problem,” Budd said. “So we want to support him on those things—but when he’s misinformed, unfortunately, by those in the staff, in the staff in the White House, it’s very unfortunate.”

Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that President Donald Trump signed during his first term in office. But late last year, the president signed new legislation containing provisions that will redefine hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container will remain legal after November 12.

The Senate over the weekend, however, approved a funding bill that includes a provision to delay the effective date of the hemp product ban until December 11—a move that was supported by the White House. Budd had filed an amendment to strip that language and keep the prohibition on track as scheduled, but the body approved a motion to table the proposal in a vote of 61-32.

Ahead of the vote, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Mehmet Oz sent a letter to senators expressing “grave concern” that the amendment would undermine the administration’s initiative to cover hemp-derived products through Medicare.

Budd, for his part, claimed in the new interview that the focus on CBD was off the mark.

“The president says, ‘Can you not just help those that are age 65 and older, and maybe some veterans that need help with some of these THC-related treatments?'” the senator said. “Look, if Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Studies [sic] want to actually focus on this, and they want to do a controlled study, that’s okay. We can actually do a carve out for that. But what he’s asking for is not what the bill is.”

"I think he's been misinformed by his staff."

Sen. Budd says President Trump is misinformed in his push to delay a federal ban on some types of hemp.

He has an amendment to get rid of the delay.@SenTedBuddNC's interview with @TimBoyumTV airs tonight at 7 on @NCCapTonight.… pic.twitter.com/U8f7Ye1sB7

— Reuben Jones (@ReubenJones1) August 7, 2026

Hemp industry supporters say moving back the effective date of the ban will give them more time to convince Congress to craft regulations for products as an alternative to prohibition.

Budd argued that “this seemingly innocent delay actually is a way for them to jam the whole Senate with a regulatory framework, which is going to be very confusing.”

“It’s going to really open the floodgates for a lot of these products to have a permanent place on store shelves,” he said.

When Budd claimed that the president is being misinformed by his staff about the issue, it’s not clear is he was referring to reports last week about the White House pushing back on the idea that the administration’s support for keeping hemp products legal is intended to benefit the son-in-law of Trump’s chief of staff, who owns businesses in the industry. A spokesperson said that the White House’s advocacy is in “the best interest of the American people” and is aimed at helping veterans and other people who use hemp products for medical purposes.

Separately, Budd suggested last year that Trump lied when he said during a signing ceremony for a marijuana rescheduling executive order that he hadn’t received any calls in opposition to the reform.

The president has noted strong public support for cannabis reform and said numerous people called him to voice support for rescheduling. “I don’t think I received any calls on the other side of it,” he said.

That comment didn’t sit right with Budd, however, who says he in fact called the president to express his opposition to rescheduling marijuana just earlier.

“I called him personally Friday last week and let him know,” the senator said, adding that he is also aware that other lawmakers had called Trump to urge him not to enact the federal reclassification of marijuana.

Meanwhile, a number of members of Congress from both parties have filed or are circulating legislation that would enact regulations for hemp products in lieu of broad prohibition.

That includes a new bipartisan House bill introduced this week to keep hemp THC drinks legal and federally regulated like alcohol.

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