Trump announced the designation Monday, saying fentanyl warranted the classification because of its impact.
“We’re formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,” he said. “No bomb does what this is doing.”
The order came as the US military confirmed strikes on three vessels accused of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean. US Southern Command said the attacks targeted “designated terrorist organizations,” killing three people on one boat, two on a second, and three on a third. The military released a video showing a vessel moving through the water before exploding.
The latest operation brought the death toll from US strikes to at least 95 people since early September, according to the administration, across 25 attacks. In one earlier incident, two people were killed while clinging to wreckage after an initial strike.
Trump has defended the campaign as necessary to curb drug flows into the United States and has declared the country to be in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
The strikes have intensified pressure from lawmakers ahead of classified briefings on Capitol Hill. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed congressional leaders on Tuesday, but lawmakers said the explanations were insufficient.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the briefing “very unsatisfying” and said Hegseth declined to commit to releasing full video of a September double strike. Asked whether Congress would be allowed to view unedited footage, Hegseth said, “We have to study it,” according to Schumer.
Congress has added provisions to its annual defense bill requiring the Pentagon to turn over unedited strike videos and threatening to withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget if it does not comply.
The campaign has also increased pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom Washington accuses of narco-terrorism. US forces last week seized a sanctioned oil tanker that the administration said was smuggling illicit crude. The US does not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy and alleges he leads the Cartel of the Suns, claims Venezuelan officials deny.
Trump has said ground attacks will begin soon, without providing details, as the US deploys its largest military presence in the region in decades.
Maduro responded on Monday by condemning what he called a “war for oil,” saying Americans would stop those pushing for conflict.
“I know that the people of the United States are going to tie the hands of the war-mongering madmen who want to impose a war for oil in South America,” he said on state television.
(jh)
Source: PAP, Euronews