Trump designates deadly drug a weapon of mass destruction

President Donald Trump this week took additional action to end the nation’s drug crisis.

During a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation on Monday, Trump announced that he was issuing an executive order designating fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.

'No bomb does what this is doing.'

“We took the worst border in the history of our country, and in a period of two months, we turned it into the strongest border in the history of our country,” Trump stated. “During this time, we’ve also achieved a 50% drop in the amount of fentanyl coming across the border, and China’s working with us very closely in bringing down the number and the amount of fentanyl that’s being shipped.”

The administration previously announced that it reached a deal with China to stop the pipeline of fentanyl precursors.

The president noted that in May, the administration executed the nation’s largest fentanyl bust, seizing 3 million pills. Authorities seized another 1.7 million fentanyl pills in November.

“There’s no doubt that America’s adversaries are trafficking fentanyl into the United States, in part because they want to kill Americans. If this were a war, it would be one of the worst wars,” Trump said.

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Photo by DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images

Fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death in Americans 18 to 45 years old, according to a DEA resource. In 2024, synthetic opioids accounted for 60% of overdose deaths — approximately 48,000 people.

“Today, I’m taking one more step to protect Americans from the scourge of deadly fentanyl flooding into our country,” Trump continued. “With this historic executive order I will sign today, [I] will formally classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, which is what it is. No bomb does what this is doing.”

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Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The executive order argued that the synthetic drug is “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic,” noting that just two milligrams can be a lethal dose.

It also noted that two cartels are predominantly responsible for the trafficking of fentanyl, adding that they have engaged “in armed conflict over territory and to protect their operations, resulting in large-scale violence and death that go beyond the immediate threat of fentanyl itself.”

“Further, the potential for fentanyl to be weaponized for concentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries is a serious threat to the United States,” the order read.

The order instructs the attorney general to promptly initiate investigations and prosecutions related to fentanyl trafficking. The secretary of state and secretary of the treasury are directed to take appropriate actions against relevant assets and financial institutions involved in trafficking activities. The homeland security secretary is tasked with identifying any threat networks associated with these activities. The order also instructs the secretary of war and the attorney general to assess whether the threat of fentanyl justifies allocating resources from the Department of War to the Department of Justice.

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