Surrounded by Angel Parents, Trump Signs Bill Aimed At Ending Fentanyl Drug Crisis

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill Wednesday aimed at ending the fentanyl drug crisis while surrounded by mothers and fathers of young people who lost their lives to the deadly drug.

“We’ll be getting the drug dealers, pushers, and peddlers off our street, and we will not rest until we have ended the drug overdose epidemic,” he promised attendees in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Trump promised that the legislation would take “a historic step toward justice for every family touched by the fentanyl scourge.”

The HALT Fentanyl Act permanently schedules fentanyl-related substances as “Fentanyl Analogs,” a classification that would expire at the end of the month without the new legislation. An analog is a copycat fentanyl that has been chemically changed just enough to skirt the law, but is just as deadly. The White House argues it must be prosecuted in the same way.

Greg Swan, whose son Drew died as a result of a fentanyl-related substance, looks on as Trump speaks during the bill signing (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Under the HALT Fentanyl Act, anyone who possesses, imports, distributes, or manufactures any illicit FRS (fentanyl-related substances) will be subject to criminal prosecution in the same manner as any other Schedule I controlled substance,” reads a White House document shared with The Daily Wire.

“First, we close the loopholes criminals use to skirt around the law,” the document notes. “Second, we make it easier for law enforcement to prosecute those criminals.”

The new legislation amends the Controlled Substances Act to permanently classify these illicit fentanyl knockoffs as Schedule 1. And it fulfills some key campaign promises of Trump, who has heavily messaged to his supporters that he will rein in the fentanyl crisis.

“For four years, Joe Biden and Democrats hardly muttered a word about the fentanyl crisis, which remains the number one leading cause of death in our country,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared in a statement ahead of the signing. “President Trump has made securing the border and ending the drug crisis a top priority, and today, he will further follow through on his commitment to the courageous fentanyl moms and dads who elected him to Make America Safe Again.”

A number of top Trump supporters who have been aggressive on border policy were also present at the event: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Fox News contributor Sara Carter, U.S. Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Senator Jim Banks of Indiana filled the first few rows and were named by the president.

House Speaker Mike Johnson arrived slightly late to the bill signing and quietly slid into a seat in the back, where a delighted mother and son duo were quick to take photos with him.

The president invited several of the angel parents in attendance to speak at the podium. One father, whose son Drew was tragically killed by fentanyl, told Trump on Wednesday afternoon: “Thank you, Mr. President, for stopping the border crossings. Full stop.”

“We were being gaslit,” he added, “and you came and lit a fire to that story, and we’re a lot safer for it.