Former President Donald Trump has announced in a new campaign video that he plans to use military assets to fight the fentanyl crisis — declaring that he will “inflict maximum damage” on the drug cartels if he is reelected in 2024, including seeking the death penalty for convicted drug dealers and human traffickers.
“For three decades before my election, drug overdose deaths increased every single year. Under my leadership, we took the drug and fentanyl crisis head on, and we achieved the first reduction in overdose deaths in more than 30 years,” the former president said in a new campaign video.
“Sadly, under Joe Biden, our hard-won progress has been surrendered, along with the surrender of our southern border — such a shame,” Trump continued. “Now, fentanyl and other ultra-deadly poisons are pouring into our country unchecked — stealing more than 100,000 American lives every single year.”
He went on to criticize President Joe Biden — his likely 2024 opponent — pointing out that Biden’s record is “one of death, destruction and misery in communities across our nation.”
The fentanyl epidemic is destroying America pic.twitter.com/3fFgUf9LJF
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) June 2, 2023
“When I am back in the White House, I will take action on day one to end this horrific plague and save American lives,” Trump added. “Joe Biden will never solve the drug overdose crisis because he is actively destroying our border.”
The former president also announced his intention to use a full naval embargo alongside deploying military assets against cartel operations — adding that he will demand “full cooperation” from neighboring governments in the effort to “dismantle” trafficking networks.
Along with punishing drug dealers and human traffickers with the death penalty, Trump plans to direct U.S. federal law enforcement to take down gangs and organized street crime groups that distribute drugs at the local level. He also vowed to permanently designate fentanyl as a federally-controlled substance — noting that China would “pay a steep price” if they don’t take action to stop the export of fentanyl chemical precursors.
“I had a deal worked out with President Xi,” Trump explained. “They weren’t going to be sending any more, and they were going to impose the death penalty on those that made it in China.”
Trump’s campaign promise also includes expanding faith-based counseling and recovery programs for drug addicts, with the former president emphasizing the fact that “we are going to need God’s help to steer our country out of the crisis.”
He noted that his plan would allow any parent, child, spouse or relative to “take advantage” of a family leave program to care for a family member fighting addiction.
“When I am president, we will not rest until we have ended the drug addiction crisis in America,” Trump said. “We will win. It will happen. We have to win, though, in 2024, because our country is going to hell.”
“We will not rest until we have ended the drug addiction crisis.”
Pres. Donald Trump releases a new Agenda47 policy explaining how he’d end the opioid epidemic plaguing the country 👇@OANN pic.twitter.com/i3cFrHOKDY
— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) June 1, 2023
From 2020 to 2022, the quantity of fentanyl caught at the southern border has tripled — while deaths from fentanyl have increased 94% since 2019. According to officials, fentanyl has become the leading cause of death from Americans aged 18 to 45.
