Designating illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) should "at least be a discussion," President Trump's border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday during Axios' Future of Defense Summit.
The big picture: Homan emphasized fentanyl is a dangerous drug, citing U.S. death tolls he said are around 73,000 annually and noted the number was higher during the Biden administration.
Driving the news: Homan said he attended a Department of Homeland Security briefing six months ago to discuss classifying the drug as a WMD.
- "When I left that briefing, it was my understanding that they would push that recommendation up to the Secretary, but I've been out of it ever since," he said.
- "They're really trying to make money on their customers, and we're not going to do that by killing them, right?" Homan said, referencing the goals of drug manufacturers.
By the numbers: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration confiscated more than 380 million lethal doses of fentanyl in 2024.
- This year's numbers, updated in late September, found the DEA seized more than 262 million deadly doses of fentanyl.
Yes, but: Preliminary data from the CDC earlier this year showed 2024 drug overdose deaths dropped to their lowest annual level since 2019, a 26.9% drop from the estimated 110,037 deaths in 2023.
State of play: DHS began considering fentanyl's WMD designation in specific scenarios in 2019.
- Various bills and resolutions have tried to address the fentanyl crisis by reclassifying the drug but none have been successful.
- The Fentanyl is a WMD Act, introduced by Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO) earlier this year, would require DHS' Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office to classify the drug as such.
Go deeper: Trump pushed for grisly anti-fentanyl ads
