Trump calls fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction: ‘no bomb does what this is doing’
US president dramatically escalates his fight against the drug by signing an executive order and warning against the ‘scourge’ of fentanyl
“Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose,” it said.
The order highlights the national security threat posed by organised criminal networks and cartels, noting that their fentanyl operations fund “assassinations, terrorist acts, and insurgencies” while enabling large-scale violence, and warns of “the potential for fentanyl to be weaponised for concentrated, large-scale terror attacks”.
Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters that there was “no doubt that America’s adversaries are trafficking fentanyl into the United States, in part because they want to kill Americans”.