President-elect Donald Trump has announced his administration's intention to roll out a massive ad campaign to inform Americans of the dangers of fentanyl.
"I will be working on a large scale United States Advertising Campaign, explaining how bad Fentanyl is for people to use — millions of lives being so needlessly destroyed. By the time the Campaign is over, everyone will know how really bad the horror of this Drug is," Trump posted Wednesday on his Truth Social platform.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that has resulted in the deaths of 74,000 Americans last year and 76,000 in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Monday, Trump warned noncompliant nations that he would impose on his first day in office a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico. "Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country," Trump posted. For China, the president-elect promised to levy an additional 10% on top of any other tariffs unless the Chinese government introduces the death penalty for "any drug dealers" caught shipping fentanyl into the United States.
The countries cited in Trump post responded with caution saying the threat of a tariff war will not result in any victors. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said, "No one will win a trade war or a tariff war" and "the idea of China knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States runs completely counter to facts and reality."
The premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, agreed adding the tariffs would be "devastating to workers and jobs" in both the U.S. and Canada.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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