Trump signs order classifying fentanyl as 'weapon of mass destruction' [View all]

Source: USA Today

Dec. 15, 2025, 4:14 pm. ET


WASHINGTON ‒ President Donald Trump has taken action classifying fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction" as his administration escalates efforts to combat the flow of illicit drugs into the United States. Trump signed an executive order on Monday, Dec. 15, to formalize the designation, which comes as the president has signed off on unprecedented airstrikes on alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean from Venezuela.

"No bomb does what this is doing," Trump said in remarks from the Oval Office, pointing to overdose deaths caused by fentanyl in the United States. "So we're formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction."

Trump signed the order as he awarded service members medals for their work securing the U.S.-Mexico order. t was not immediately clear what the classification will mean for the Trump administration's efforts to curb the flow of fentanyl, which is estimated to have killed more than 80,000 Americans in 2024. Trump signed the order as he awarded service members medals for their work securing the U.S.-Mexico order.

It was not immediately clear what the classification will mean for the Trump administration's efforts to curb the flow of fentanyl, which is estimated to have killed more than 80,000 Americans in 2024. "Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic," the order reads. "Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses."

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/15/trump-executive-order-fentanyl-weapon-mass-destruction/87782076007/