""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, that would be one of the worst wars. I believe they killed over the last five or six years, per year, 200-to-300,000 people. You hear about a 100,000, which is a lot of people, but the number is much higher than that. That's been proven.""
""Notice Trump's use of the word "war," and the vast exaggeration of numbers of fentanyl drug deaths in the U.S. -- actually 48,000 in 2024. Also, does anyone really think that the cartels are pushing fentanyl into this country "to kill Americans?" Or is the real reason they are doing it is to make money - as is the case with most drug dealers.""
The President signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as Weapons of Mass Destruction. The order was justified by claims that foreign adversaries traffic fentanyl to kill Americans and that deaths number far higher than official counts. Actual fentanyl deaths were about 48,000 in 2024, challenging the larger figures. The order signals increased use of the U.S. military in addressing domestic drug problems. Thousands of active-duty and National Guard service members have been deployed to the southern border and federalized for immigration and crime-related operations. A Mexican Border Defense Medal was awarded to service members.
Read at The Cipher Brief
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