Trump signs executive order to classify illicit fentanyl as weapon of mass destruction

By Kit Maher, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday classifying “illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals” as weapons of mass destruction — though it was not immediately clear what practical effect that might have.

“Today I’m taking one more step to protect Americans from the scourge of deadly fentanyl flooding into our country with this historic executive order,” he said in​ the Oval Office, adding, “No bomb does what this is doing.”

His announcement came as he was honoring US service members with medals “for their central role in the protection of our border.”

US law already makes it a crime to use, threaten or attempt to use weapons of mass destruction — an offense that carries a possible death sentence, depending on the circumstances. The law also offers a definition for weapons of mass destruction that includes “any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector.”

But Trump can’t change US law via executive order, and one former federal prosecutor specializing in national security matters questioned whether it would have any impact.

The order — which claims “illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic” — directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “immediately pursue investigations and prosecutions into fentanyl trafficking.” It also directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “pursue appropriate actions against relevant assets and financial institutions in accordance with applicable law for those involved in or supporting the manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals.”

The order casts the manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl as a threat to national security.

“The production and sale of fentanyl by Foreign Terrorist Organizations and cartels fund these entities’ operations — which include assassinations, terrorist acts, and insurgencies around the world — and allow these entities to erode our domestic security and the well-being of our Nation,” the order says.

Dennis Fitzpatrick, a former national security attorney with the Eastern District of Virginia, labeled the move as a “political exercise,” arguing it will make it “more difficult” for agents and prosecutors to work under existing drug-trafficking statutes.

“We already have statutes on the books that are tested, that prosecutors and agents are accustomed to working with, and they’re very clear, and they accomplish the same goals,” Fitzpatrick told CNN. “There’s no practical reason to label fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. It’s a political exercise.”

He added that such a measure should be the purview of Congress. “It’s naked lawmaking, and this is an area where Congress has the authority, has the responsibility,” Fitzpatrick said.

Drug overdose deaths in the United States last year made an unprecedented drop to the lowest in five years, according to a federal government estimate released in May. Synthetic opioids – primarily fentanyl – continued to be involved in most overdose deaths, the data showed.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Monday’s White House event also revived the “Mexican Border Service” medals, which the administration learned were first established by Congress in 1918.

“Our men and women will be wearing that very same medal as Americans 100 years before who were asked to defend the sovereignty of our country,” Hegseth said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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