The number of deaths linked to fentanyl overdoses dropped by 22% last year, a decline the Trump administration links to securing the U.S. border from illegal immigration and targeting foreign drug cartels.
Deaths from synthetic opioids were 38,084 in 2025, down from 48,913 in 2024, according to CDC data the White House provided to Fox News. Overall deaths from drug overdoses also declined by 14%.
TRUMP: Says fentanyl deaths fell 22%, from 48,913 to 38,084, amid border crackdown and ICE arrests pic.twitter.com/M0ApuzDWNK
— Trump Truths (@trumptruthsbot) August 21, 2026
“President [Donald] Trump targeted cartels who were profiting off the death of Americans, secured our border to stop Fentanyl and other illicit drugs from flowing into our communities and jump-started ICE to arrest illegal alien fentanyl traffickers,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News.
“These policies delivered a 22% decline in opioid deaths in a single year. Thanks to President Trump, America is finally winning the fight against fentanyl,” she said.
In a post on X, the White House attributed the decline to the administration’s “border crackdown, campaign against drug cartels, and the arrests of convicted fentanyl traffickers.”
This National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, we remember those we've lost, and fight for the ones we can still protect.
Thanks to the Trump Admin’s border crackdown, campaign against drug cartels, and the arrests of convicted fentanyl traffickers, fentanyl-related… pic.twitter.com/O7NmzKdR6H
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 21, 2026
The Trump administration designated drug cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel, and other international gangs, like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) at the beginning of the president’s second term as part of a broader crackdown on crime, trafficking, and illegal immigration.
On National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security highlighted examples of some of federal law enforcement’s recent fentanyl seizures and arrests.
Last month, federal law enforcement seized 16 kilograms of fentanyl among other drugs and weapons from individuals affiliated with the Trinitarios gang, which is designated as an FTO. The prior month, another operation in New Jersey seized 14 kilograms of fentanyl.
On this National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, I want to thank the brave men and women of @DHSgov who work so hard to hunt down fentanyl traffickers and smugglers, get them out of our communities, and get their poison off of our streets.
Thanks to @POTUS Trump’s strong… https://t.co/bnpA82duXn
— Secretary Markwayne Mullin (@SecMullinDHS) August 21, 2026
“On this National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, I want to thank the brave men and women of DHS who work so hard to hunt down fentanyl traffickers and smugglers, get them out of our communities, and get their poison off of our streets,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “We have lost too many American lives to fentanyl, especially after years of disastrous open-border policies that made it even easier for the cartels to bring their drugs to our country.”
“Thanks to President Donald J. Trump’s strong leadership, we are bringing the hammer down on drug traffickers and smugglers, putting them out of business and behind bars,” he added.
