President Trump Designates Fentanyl a ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’ by Executive Order

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday formally classifying illicit fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction (WMD).”

The President signed the measure in the Oval Office while flanked by top military and administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Trump justified the designation by stating, “We’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, which is what it is. No bomb does what this is doing.”

The executive order goes beyond treating fentanyl merely as a lethal narcotic, asserting that the substance can be weaponized by organized adversaries to execute “concentrated, large-scale terror attacks.” The order emphasizes the drug’s extreme potency, noting that an “almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt” (two milligrams) constitutes a lethal dose, making the illicit substance “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic.”

The classification, which is typically reserved for nuclear, biological, or chemical threats, is intended to dramatically expand the U.S. government’s authority to combat the synthetic opioid crisis.

The new designation directs the Attorney General to pursue tougher criminal charges and sentencing enhancements in fentanyl trafficking cases, and empowers the Treasury and State Departments to target the assets and financial institutions of those involved in its distribution.

It further directs the Pentagon and Justice Department to determine whether the military’s national security resources should be utilized to assist law enforcement during fentanyl-related emergencies.

This action is a key part of the administration’s intensified focus on targeting drug cartels, following Trump’s earlier step of classifying several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.