Trump Casts Fentanyl As Weapon Of Mass Destruction In New Executive Order: ‘No Bomb Does What This Is Doing’

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday declaring “illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals” a weapon of mass destruction, pitching it as a new front in the administration’s border and drug crackdown even as the order’s practical impact remained unclear.

Trump Casts Fentanyl Crisis As WMD Threat

“Today I’m taking one more step to protect Americans from the scourge of deadly fentanyl flooding into our country with this historic executive order,” Trump said during an Oval Office event honoring American service members for “their central role in the protection of our border,” according to Reuters. He added, “No bomb does what this is doing.”

Federal law already makes it a crime to “use, threaten, or attempt” to use a weapon of mass destruction, with penalties up to life in prison and, if death results, the possible death sentence. The statute’s definition of a WMD includes “any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector,” as well as weapons designed to cause harm through “toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors.”

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Order Directs Prosecutions, Sanctions And Asset Actions

The executive order argues that “illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic,” and it directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “immediately pursue investigations and prosecutions into fentanyl trafficking.”

It also orders Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “pursue appropriate actions” involving assets and financial institutions linked to the manufacture, distribution and sale of illicit fentanyl and key precursor chemicals.

Overdose Deaths Fall, But Fentanyl Still Dominates

The order casts fentanyl networks as a national security threat tied to foreign terrorist organizations and cartels, an approach that aligns with years of US warnings that precursor supply chains often run through overseas chemical sources and trafficking routes.

The move comes as US overdose deaths have fallen sharply from pandemic-era peaks, though fentanyl and other synthetic opioids still account for most fatalities, according to federal health data.

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