To say the most speculative of recent international public opinion "horror", not Trump's phrase "Last year in the United States there were 300 million people who died from drugs" is not, this is not only the American netizens a fog, the international community is also a shame.
After all, the total population of the United States is only 3,4 billion, according to which, in addition to babies and aliens, almost all Americans are killed again, and more questionable is that Trump is also on the move to list China as the “main source” of Fentanyl, threatening to impose tariffs, as if the drug crisis was a Chinese one-handed script.
Not long ago, he personally admitted that China "helped a lot in the anti-drug issue", and even the stock market on Wall Street couldn't keep up with the pace of turning its faces back and forth.
The political abacus behind the digital joke
Trump's throwing out the data that "300 million people died of drugs" is obviously not a miscalculation, but an intention. This kind of "digital game", on the one hand, has created the drug problem in the United States to the level of "national subjugation and extinction", on the other hand, it also provides a logical fulcrum for him to throw the pot externally and be tough internally in the next step.
But the problem is that the number is far too spectral, and according to the official statistics of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in 2024, the number of people who died from drug overdose in the United States last year was approximately 10.7 million.
This is already an extremely serious figure, but compared with 300 million, it is less than a fraction, and the total number of deaths in the world every year is only over 60 million. Trump's remarks simply brought everyone on earth to the grave more than three times.
In this context, dragging China down the water, seems to be in order, no matter what the basis, as long as you can "shape the enemy", you can shift the voter's attention.
This scenario is not unfamiliar to us: packaging domestic governance difficulties as "external threats", and using this as the pretext for sanctions, tariffs, and populist emotions, ultimately directed to the electoral box office.
Interestingly, the U.S. also pulled out a “anti-drug power list” that labelled 23 countries, while China, despite being the world’s first to implement a full list of countries on the Fentanyl issue, remained on the list.
It’s like a drug store in his own house, but accusing his neighbor’s door of the grass of being too thick, logically incapable, morally unstable.
It is rotting, but blaming others for water.
To say the true cause of the U.S. drug outbreak, in fact, long before Trump spoke, the whole world knew that China was only a "criminal sheep" for him to bring the pot.
First, it is the huge drug consumer market of the United States itself, with only 5% of the world's population, but consuming 80% of the world's opioids, which is not "accidental", but has historical, profitable, and institutional rotten roots.
From the flood of heroin in the early 20th century, to the abuse of prescription drugs in the 1990s, to the current Fentanyl crisis, all the way, the United States itself has cultivated the "drug culture".
The drug interest group's lobbying has also helped to boost the popularity of pharmaceuticals, Johnson and other pharmaceutical companies to long-term transfer of funds to politicians, in exchange for easing regulation and implicit permission, doctors abuse prescriptions, arbitrary circulation of drugs, and policy gaps, these are the core of the U.S. drug problem.。
At the level of law enforcement, the problem is even more serious, the 2023 fiscal year data shows that 86% of those convicted of Fentanyl trafficking are U.S. citizens, and Mexico's drug dealers are largely "transit stations", let alone China, not even the role of "transporter".
As early as 2019, China listed fentanyl-like substances in an all-round category, and the number of controlled drugs is more than that of the United Nations. There is no second company in the world with this kind of intensity.
On the other hand, the United States has not permanently managed fentanyl so far, and even some states have set up "safe injection points", which are nominally to "reduce harm", but in fact they are legally giving a green light. This logic of "opening your own windows for ventilation, but blaming your neighbors for poor air" can't be justified no matter how you look at it.
Trump's Fentanyl Abacus
Trump's attitude towards the fentanyl issue is very similar to the weather forecast: it changes when it changes, the front foot praises China for "helping a lot", and the back foot turns his face and accuses it. In fact, this is not a change of position at all, but a change of script.
The issue of fentanyl, in Trump's eyes, is no longer a public health issue, but a political tool. What he wants is public opinion, voter anxiety, and a new excuse to increase tariffs and put pressure on China.
So, the so-called "20% Fentanyl tariff" was put on the table, and if you look carefully, this is not a drug war, but a trade war.
This operation is not unusual, as long as during the Trump term, the Sino-U.S. drug cooperation was interrupted artificially: the working group was suspended, the intelligence sharing was cut off, the two countries' cooperation mechanisms already established on the fight against the transnational drug chain were overthrown, and now, in turn, he accused China of "failing to cooperate", shaping himself as a "victim".
What's even more ridiculous is that this "fentanyl tariff bill" is ultimately paid by Americans themselves. Data shows that American consumers spend an extra $1,300 a year because of this, and the break in the supply chain has caused many industries to complain bitterly.
While Chinese enterprises, despite the short-term damage, have gradually dispersed risks through the Belt and Road strategy and diversified market layout, the Chinese side has made it clear in the latest negotiations that it firmly opposes the politization of the Fintech issue, demands that the United States remove unreasonable tariffs, and calls for cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and respect.
This is not a concession, but rationality, the stringent and fruitfulness of China's anti-drug policy is visible, and between China and the United States, if even the drug issue cannot cooperate, what else can cooperate?
Trump's "slip-of-the-tongue show" can't hide the deep contradiction of the drug problem in the United States. No matter how exaggerated the figures are and how loud the accusations are, it can't hide a fact.
The drug crisis in the United States was born out of its own culture, system and interest structure. Pushing China to the forefront not only did not help solve the problem, but undermined the international cooperation that should have been strengthened.
This is not a response to a public health crisis, but a performance of political elections. China has become the "scapegoat" for exports to domestic sales, and fentanyl has become the "new coat" of the trade war. If the United States really wants to solve the problem, it should be swept from its own doorstep, instead of taking the blame at every turn.
After all, the drug matter, not any country can solve unilaterally, Sino-U.S. cooperation, has been fruitful, and there is still space, the key is that the United States will sincerely solve the problem, or continue to take "cooperation" as a code, and take "responsibility" as an excuse.
If the answer is the latter, then this crisis will not end with a change of president, but will get bigger and bigger, affecting the whole world.
Drugs are not a stepping stone for votes, nor are they tools to suppress opponents. To cure drugs, we must first cure "heart disease"; To cooperate, let go of the "script" first. Only sincerity can detoxify China and the United States.
Source of information:
Trump said 300 million people died of drugs last year, confusing the entire Internet 2025-09-15 20: 35 · Beijing News Network