Fentanyl just got bumped into the same legal category as chemical weapons. President Trump on Monday signed an executive order labeling illicit fentanyl and its main precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction, saying in the Oval Office that "no bomb does what this is doing." The move, he said, is aimed at combating what he called a deadly wave of synthetic opioids entering the US, CNN reports. Also Monday, Trump repeated his claims that the US will soon attack Venezuela by land, but Al Jazeera reports regional experts do not consider the country a hub for illicit fentanyl.
The order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to immediately ramp up investigations and prosecutions targeting fentanyl trafficking. It also directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to pursue financial and diplomatic pressure on those involved in manufacturing, distributing, or financing illicit fentanyl, "in accordance with applicable law." In its legal form, fentanyl is used during surgeries, Axios reports.
Under international definitions, weapons capable of causing mass casualties, or severe harm to people and the environment, very quickly "through toxic or poisonous chemicals" are classified as weapons of mass destruction. Federal data released earlier this year showed US overdose deaths fell to a five-year low, but synthetic opioids—chiefly fentanyl—still accounted for most fatalities. Classifying a narcotic as a WMD is "a nearly unprecedented presidential action," per Politico, the Biden administration also considered the move under pressure from a bipartisan group of attorneys general.
Trump made the announcement while awarding medals to service members for what the White House described as key roles in border security. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the event also brought back the "Mexican Border Service" medal, first authorized by Congress in 1918, noting that troops today will wear "that very same medal" as those who guarded the border a century ago.
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