Maduro denounces Trump’s threats of land strikes
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced Trump’s threats of land strikes after the U.S. seized an oil tanker near Venezuela.
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.
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.”
The government has historically used the term “weapons of mass destruction” to describe weapons of war. The Department of Homeland Security defines weapons of mass destruction as “radiological, chemical, biological, or other device that is intended to harm a large number of people.”
In February, Trump designated some drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a move administration officials argue gives them legal justification for the strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
