‘No Bomb Does What This Is Doing’: Trump To Classify Fentanyl As WMD

President Donald Trump on Monday announced the classification of illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, opening the door for the federal government to go even harder against the drug cartels.

Trump signed the executive order, enhancing penalties for fentanyl traffickers and tasking the Department of War with countering the cartels producing the lethal narcotic.

“No bomb does what this is doing. 200,000 to 300,000 people die every year that we know of, so we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,” Trump said while awarding troops with medals for securing the southern border on Monday.

???? President Trump announces a groundbreaking Executive Order classifying fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction:

“No bomb does what this is doing. 200 to 300 THOUSAND people die every year — that we know of.” pic.twitter.com/OwuA2KQXfX

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 15, 2025

Trump’s former acting Drug Enforcement Administrator, Derek Maltz, told The Daily Wire that the designation has been a long time coming and that it will shut down the cartels’ financing “at a new level.”

He said that it will allow the Department of War to “use all capabilities, authorities and expertise to up the game at a new level.”

The designation will also open the door for the federal government to take further actions when it comes to other and even more deadly drugs that have emerged in the illicit market.

“With this new designation, they will also be able to add the additional deadly chemical substances like nitazenes class of poison being made in adversarial labs to kill our citizens,” Maltz said in reference to a newly emerging synthetic narcotic up to 40 times deadlier than fentanyl.

Two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of salt, is enough to kill the average adult.

The Trump administration has already taken steps to stop the flow of illicit drugs by designating certain drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and carrying out nearly 20 strikes against alleged trafficking vessels off the coast of Venezuela.