US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designating fentanyl as a 鈥渨eapon of mass destruction鈥漚nd classifying it as a potential chemical weapon. 鈥婽he move is part of the administration鈥檚 broader effort to prevent the entry of illicit drugs into the US. The order instructs the Pentagon and Justice Department to intensify efforts against the production and distribution of the drug. 鈥淸The move] unleashes every tool to combat the cartels and foreign networks responsible for flooding communities with this deadly substance,鈥 the White House said.聽 It also warned that the drug could be weaponized for 鈥渃oncentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries,鈥 a claim that has drawn skepticism from drug policy experts. Jonathan Caulkins, a Carnegie Mellon professor specializing in drugs, crime, and violence, told Stat News that 鈥渘either terrorist organizations nor militaries are using fentanyl as a weapon.鈥 Trump likened the drug to explosive devices, saying that 鈥渘o bomb does what this is doing,鈥 describing the order as 鈥渉istoric.鈥 Under US law, weapons of mass destruction include 鈥渁ny weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector.鈥 The formalization of this designation follows President Trump鈥檚 approval of unprecedented airstrikes targeting alleged drug-carrying boats traveling from Venezuela in the Caribbean.
WASHINGTON 鈥 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the Pentagon will not publicly release unedited video of a U.S. military strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on a boat allegedly carrying cocaine in the Caribbean, as questions mounted in Congress about the incident and the overall buildup of U.S. military forces near Venezuela.
