Published on: Dec 16, 2025 03:12 am IST
Trump emphasized the drug’s fatal consequences, claiming it causes 200,000 to 300,000 deaths annually.
US President Donald Trump, on December 16, said that he is signing an executive order to formally classify fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. The White House rapid response team shared a video of the announcement on X.
The post was captioned: “POTUS announces he is signing an Executive Order today to formally classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction.”
This comes as the Trump administration is ramping up its campaign against drug cartels in Latin America, reported AFP.
‘Historic executive order’
In the video, Trump said the move was aimed at protecting Americans from what he described as the deadly impact of fentanyl. “Today I’m taking on more steps to protect Americans from the scourge of deadly fentanyl flooding into our country,” Trump said.
He added: “With this historic executive order I will sign today, formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. Which is what it is!”
Trump compared fentanyl’s impact to that of weapons, saying, “No bomb does what this is doing.”
He also claimed that fentanyl causes widespread fatalities, stating that “200 to 300 thousand people die every year, that we know of.” “So we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,” Trump said at the signing held during a White House event to present medals for the defense of the US-Mexican border, according to AFP.
