President Trump signs executive order classifying fentanyl as 'weapon of mass destruction'

David Matthews, New York Daily News on Dec 15, 2025

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President Trump signed an executive order Monday that classifies fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.

The order comes after several months of controversial strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats and “narco-terrorists” from Venezuela in the Caribbean, which some critics have said could be illegal.

“No bomb does what this is doing,” the President said in the Oval Office, referencing overdose deaths caused by the synthetic opioid in the United States. “So we’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.

“They’re trying to drug out our country.”

The Department of Homeland Security previously defined weapons of mass destruction as “radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people.”

“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.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates fentanyl killed more than 80,000 Americans in 2024. The opioid is a leading cause of U.S. overdose deaths.

The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to immediately pursue “investigations and prosecutions” into fentanyl trafficking and calls on the State and Treasury departments to target assets and accounts of individuals involved in drug trafficking. As part of the order, the departments of Defense and Homeland Security are also given additional tools to target countries, cartels and other organizations involved in manufacturing or trafficking fentanyl.

In general, several agencies are called to “eliminate the threat of illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals to the United States.”

Trump had previously imposed tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico for allegedly not doing enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States. He has also designated multiple drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. He has also repeatedly threatened strikes on land in Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico to ostensibly battle drug trafficking.

The order was announced during a ceremony to award the Mexican Border Defense Medal to members of the military dispatched to the southern border.

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