Trump Says the Biden Administration Must Confront China Over US Fentanyl Crisis

Former President Donald Trump says it is imperative that the Biden administration confronts China now over the U.S. fentanyl crisis.

“Must immediately meet with China on Fentanyl, and what they are doing in pouring it into the U.S. It is ripping our Country apart,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Oct. 6.

Trump estimated the U.S. death rate caused by fentanyl to be around 250,000 people a year. While official reports have indicated the rate to be increasing, the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that death involving fentanyl rose 23 percent to 71,238 in 2021. The CDC estimated that a total of 107,622 drug overdose deaths last year.

This crisis “CANNOT CONTINUE,” Trump added.

Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged between 18 and 45, surpassing suicide, car accidents, and COVID-19, according to a December 2021 report from the U.S. advocacy group Families Against Fentanyl.

Most states in the United States are seeing a surge in fentanyl deaths. According to the group’s report published in February, fentanyl fatalities doubled in 30 states, tripled in 15 states, and nearly five times in six states, in the last two years. Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, California, and Texas are the six states seeing a nearly five-fold increase in fentanyl deaths.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized approximately 47,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills, 186,000 blue fentanyl pills, and 6.5 pounds of meth hidden in a floor compartment of a vehicle at the Nogales port of entry on the southern border with Mexico on Sept. 3, 2022. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times stronger than heroin.

Trump’s urgent call came a week after China’s ambassador to the United States Qin Gang defended the Chinese

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