President Donald Trump is sparking fresh concerns about his mental acuity after wildly claiming on Sunday that 300 million Americans died last year from drugs – despite the entire U.S. population being just 340 million, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
Trump made the blatantly false statement when pressed by a reporter about whether the recent military strike against a Venezuelan vessel, which the administration alleges was transporting drugs to the U.S., was unlawful and could heighten tensions with the nation.
“What’s illegal are the drugs that were on the boat and the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs, that’s what’s illegal,” Trump declared.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 80,400 Americans actually died from drug overdoses last year – a 27% decrease from 2023’s figure of 110,000 deaths.
Throughout his first year back in office, Trump has repeatedly cited narcotics flowing in from foreign nations as justification for broadening executive authority – including his national emergency declaration that enabled him to unilaterally slap tariffs on Canada and Mexico, reports the Irish Star.
This move stemmed from Trump’s assertion that both neighboring countries, through what he perceives as lax border enforcement, permit fentanyl to flood into America. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data reveals that since 2022, the amount of fentanyl entering the U.S. via the Northern Border has been negligible, roughly one-tenth of 1%.
While a significant quantity of drugs do infiltrate through the Southern Border, this trend has persisted for decades, and many policy experts view the so-called “War on Drugs” as a dismal failure, arguing that criminalizing drug use is not an effective strategy to combat it.According to estimates from the Global Commission on Drug Policy, since President Richard Nixon enacted the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, the U.S. has poured over $1 trillion into drug enforcement. Despite this staggering figure, the nation has little to show for its efforts, with drug use remaining relatively stable over the past half-century.
The source of Trump’s claim of a 300 million-person number remains unclear, sparking speculation about his cognitive abilities among some social media users. “This doesn’t even match worldwide statistics. What drugs is he on?” user @JohnnyVomits posted on X.
“300,000,000? ! ? ! ? Wow! So basically everyone…” user @Nononon04250953 commented.
“1. World Population and Death Rates: – The current world population is approximately 8.2 billion people. – The global death rate is typically around 7-8 deaths per 1,000 people per year, which translates to about 57.4 million to 65.6 million deaths annually worldwide,” user @adelebloch11 noted.
Earlier this month, the president announced the strike on the vessel, saying the military had “shot out the boat “moments ago. ” According to Trump, the boat was in international waters and was transporting illegal narcotics bound for the US.
The president later said on Truth Social that 11 Tren de Aragua gang members had been killed in the attack. He also posted a video that showed a military strike on a small boat in the ocean.It remains unclear what drugs the vessel was believed to have been carrying. “Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!” the president wrote on Truth Social.
