Trump Touts Tariffs' Impact on Fentanyl, Plans Gruesome Ad Campaign to Deter Drug Use

Donald Trump celebrated the "unbelievable results" his tariffs have achieved in slowing the flow of fentanyl into the United States. He said punitive border levies on Canada, Mexico, and China would remain in place until the deadly narcotic is no longer entering his country.

In a speech to the U.S. Department of Justice, Trump also suggested that his own country has much to do in combatting fentanyl use. He announced plans for a graphic new public-health campaign and offered some of his most positive comments to date on the response he received after initially imposing tariffs.

"They weren't happy about it," Trump said in a speech to Attorney-General Pam Bondi, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and its new head, Kash Patel. "But they are working like hell to end it. They weren't working very hard before I did that."

Trump also credited a conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for prompting a shift in his own thinking. She described what he called "very rough ads" depicting the ravages narcotics inflict on users.

"They show the skin falling off and the teeth falling out. And going blind. And losing hair," Trump said. That phone call, the President said, changed his outlook. He is now planning a similar advertising blitz for the U.S., designed to emphasize how illegal narcotics can damage a person's image.

"You lose your look," he said. "Everyone's vain. They don't want to lose their look."

He held out hope that such an approach could cut by a third the toll fentanyl is taking on the U.S. He did not define what metrics could be used to measure that.

It's not clear how effective that approach could be, although research has shown that graphic labels on cigarettes can prompt smokers to make more attempts to quit the habit. Compared with regular packaging, graphic health warnings can also make people with a lower nicotine dependence less likely to buy.

But after months of holding Canada and Mexico responsible for the use of fentanyl inside the U.S., Trump's plans to carpet the country in gruesome advertising suggest that he may be prepared to also look more closely at domestic solutions to some of the factors that propel use of illegal drugs.