Trump declares fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction”: “If this were a war it would be one of the worst”

“Today I give one more step to protect Americans from the scourge of fentanyl mortaWhat is flooding our country. With this historic executive order, we will formally classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, which is what it really is,” the Republican declared at an event held at the White House.

“If this were a war, it would be one of the worst wars; I think that in the last five or six years between 200,000 and 300,000 people have died a year. “There is talk of 100,000, which is a lot of people, but the number is much higher,” said the US president.

He Fentanyl has killed more than 80,000 people in the United States alone in 2024, according to official statistics.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), More than 250,000 people died between 2021 and 2023 alone from overdoses related to synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl.

The Republican highlighted that during his mandate, “a 50% reduction in the amount of fentanyl crossing the border” has been achieved, according to him, and assured that China is “collaborating closely” with the US “to reduce the number and quantity of fentanyl being shipped.”

“We have managed to reduce the figure to a much smaller number. It is not satisfactory, but it will soon be,” he boasted.

For the moment, Washington has not explained what legal repercussions You will have to classify this drug under that heading.

It is not ruled out that this is a new maneuver by Trump to justify a possible intervention in Mexican territory, similar to including drug cartels on its list of terrorist groups.

In February 2025, Trump included some of these groups, such as the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, or La Nueva Familia Michoacana, on the US list of international terrorist organizations.

Sheinbaum: “Our approach is different”

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaumreacted this Tuesday to the executive order signed by Trump the day before, pointing out that his Government “is going to analyze what implications it has.”

“On the one hand, we are going to analyze it. Second, the issue of consumption cannot be addressed if it is not also with a policy of attention to the causes and attention to young people; and, third, “Fentanyl is also legal for consumption, it is used as an anesthetic”stated the president during her morning conference at the National Palace.

The Mexican ruler questioned the “implications” of this executive order when this drug is legal and when not, especially when it is classified as “a weapon of chemical destruction.”

He also reiterated that The position of the Government of Mexico goes “beyond the punitive part”, in which “those who, above all, generate violence linked to drug trafficking must be prosecuted.”

Sheinbaum emphasized that “The central issue is attention to the causes of drug consumption” and stated that his Government’s vision is different from Trump’s.

“Our vision of how to deal with drug consumption is different, of course we have to deal with crimes, for that there is a prosecutor’s office and judges, but The causes of drug consumption must also be addressed; if the causes are not addressed, it will be fentanyl or another drug.drugs will continue to be used,” he concluded.