Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday criticized the United States for classifying fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction,” saying the fight against the deadly opioid must address the root causes of drug use as Washington intensifies its crackdown on drug cartels.
Speaking to reporters in Mexico City, Sheinbaum said she had raised the issue directly with U.S. President Donald Trump, warning against an approach centered solely on security measures.
“I have raised this with President Trump – the causes of drug use must be addressed, not just this approach of classifying one of the drugs as a lethal weapon of mass destruction,” she said.
Trump on Monday signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, placing it in the same category as nuclear and chemical weapons as part of his administration’s broader campaign against drug cartels in Latin America.
The order said fentanyl is “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic” and warned that its manufacture and distribution pose a threat to U.S. national security.
Trump signed the order during an Oval Office event honoring U.S. military personnel involved in border security operations, describing fentanyl as a uniquely deadly threat.
“No bomb does what this is doing,” Trump said, claiming that between 200,000 and 300,000 people die each year as a result of the drug. He also said his administration had rapidly strengthened U.S. border security, calling it “the strongest border in the history of our country.”
The fentanyl designation aligns with the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged “narco-terrorists,” which has included military operations targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels.
However, those boats are believed to be transporting cocaine rather than fentanyl, which is primarily smuggled into the United States from Mexico by land routes rather than by sea from countries such as Colombia or Venezuela.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 80,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2024, with about 48,000 deaths linked to synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.
