President Donald Trump upped the ante in the war on drugs after making an official move to classify the deadly drug fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD), allowing for new tools for the government to stop the flood of the lethal drug that’s killed way too many Americans.
In the Oval Office on Monday, Trump signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemical as a WMD, per a White House press release.
.@POTUS announces he is signing an Executive Order today to formally classify fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction. pic.twitter.com/grshF47tlV
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 15, 2025
READ MORE: 'We Were Being Gaslit': Parents Who Lost Kids to Fentanyl Slam Biden and His Administration
Pam Bondi Reports on the Facts Showing Pres. Trump Flipped Script on High Crime From Biden Admin
“Today I am taking one more step to protect Americans from the scourge of deadly fentanyl flooding into our country, “Trump said. “With this historic executive order…we are formally classifying fetanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction.”
“Which is what it is. No bomb does what this is doing,” he added. “Two hundred to three hundred thousand people die every year, that we know of.”
According to the White House release on the EO:
- The Order directs the Attorney General to immediately pursue criminal charges, sentencing enhancements, and sentencing variances in fentanyl trafficking cases.
- The Order directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to pursue appropriate actions against relevant assets and financial institutions for those involved in or supporting the manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals.
- The Order directs the Secretary of War and Attorney General to determine whether the Department of War should provide enhanced national security resources to the Department of Justice as necessary during an emergency situation involving a weapon of mass destruction.
- The Order directs the Secretary of War, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, to update their chemical incident response-related directives to include the fentanyl threat.
- The Order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to identify fentanyl smuggling networks using WMD and nonproliferation related threat intelligence.
BREAKING: President Trump just declared FENTANYL a WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 15, 2025
This critical step unleashes every tool to combat the cartels & foreign networks responsible for flooding communities with this deadly substance—the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18-45. pic.twitter.com/C9YXC53kzK
A White House post on X about the move said, “This critical step unleashes every tool to combat the cartels & foreign networks responsible for flooding communities with this deadly substance—the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18-45.”
SEE: New Poll: 60 Percent Say Bomb the Drug Boats
Watch: Venezuelan Drug Boats - and Then There Were Four
It also pointed out that by Trump designating fentanyl as a WMD, it ensures “the full weight of the Federal government is focused, coordinated, and mobilized to confront fentanyl as the deadly chemical weapon it is.”
The move follows other steps in the war on drugs enacted by President Trump since taking office in January, including signing the HALT Fentanyl Act, which permanently classifies fentanyl-related substances as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, RedState reported.
The president said the passage of the law has struck "a righteous blow to the drug dealers, narcotic traffickers, and criminal cartels... and we take a historic step toward justice for every family touched by the fentanyl scourge as we sign the HALT Fentanyl Act into law."
Other steps include the numerous military strikes on what the White House has labeled narco-boats to stop the poisoning of Americans, along with designating “eight cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), including Tren de Aragua and MS-13, to combat their violence and drug trafficking.”
Once again, President Trump is willing to do what past leaders haven’t to make America safer.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member