Vice President JD Vance on Saturday bluntly defended the Trump administration&#8217;s recent targeted U.S. Military strike of Tren de Aragua cartel drug smugglers.
&#8220;Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,&#8221; Vance posted to X.
Far-Left social media activist Brian Krassenstein replied to Vance, &#8220;Killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime.&#8221;
&#8220;I don’t give a s*** what you call it,&#8221; the VP bluntly responded. The response, only posted hours ago, already has over 1.3 million views.
<div id="attachment_969361" style="width: 895px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-969361" class="wp-image-969361 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-06-at-1.29.38-PM-885x576.png" alt="" width="885" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-06-at-1.29.38-PM-885x576.png 885w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-06-at-1.29.38-PM-300x195.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-06-at-1.29.38-PM-768x500.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-06-at-1.29.38-PM.png 1164w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 885px) 100vw, 885px" />Screenshot: X</div>
Vance later doubled-down, mockingly posting, &#8220;Democrats: let’s send your kids to die in Russia. Republicans: actually let’s protect our people from the scum of the earth.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
Democrats: let’s send your kids to die in Russia.
Republicans: actually let’s protect our people from the scum of the earth.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1964341366298660905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
This is certainly not the first time Vance has been blunt in his response to Left-wing defenses of apparent criminals. Vance notably went viral back in January when CBS anchor Margaret Brennan tried to argue about when exactly an Afghan national who was plotting a terror attack in the U.S. was radicalized. “I don’t really care, Margaret,” Vance memorably interrupted her argument.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
“I don&#8217;t really care, Margaret.“
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
<a href="https://t.co/qpAKCxDalh">pic.twitter.com/qpAKCxDalh</a>
— Ginny Robinson (@ImGinnyRobinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImGinnyRobinson/status/1883627417744625731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands of Americans have suffered synthetic opioid-related deaths. During the open-border Biden era, tens of thousands of pounds of fentanyl were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). It&#8217;s unclear how much fentanyl made it into the U.S. illegally. Trump&#8217;s administration has not only closed the border and started deporting illegals, but they are being proactive with cartel members.
This past week, as referenced by Vance, Trump posted a video of the military strike against Tren de Aragua members in the Caribbean Sea. As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-drone-strikes-cartel-drug-boat-trump-posts-video-for-world-to-see-beware">The Daily Wire</a>, the strike took place in international waters and killed nearly a dozen terrorist cartel members carrying illicit drugs, according to Trump.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://t.co/vEVGYVgLAg">pic.twitter.com/vEVGYVgLAg</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1962990388211228951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
Additionally, Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-drone-strikes-cartel-drug-boat-trump-posts-video-for-world-to-see-beware?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=U.S.+Drone+Strikes+Cartel+Drug+Boat%2C+Trump+Posts+Video+For+World+To+See%3A+%E2%80%98BEWARE%21%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strikes</a> against drug cartels are only getting started, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio said on Wednesday that the Trump administration would no longer rely on stopping drug runners when they arrive on U.S. soil, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blow-them-up-rubio-says-trump-will-direct-more-strikes-against-narco-terrorists">The Daily Wire</a> reported. Instead, the United States will take out cartel members before they reach the country to spread their “poison.”
“Interdiction doesn’t work because these drug cartels — what they do is they know they’re going to lose 2% of their cargo. They bake it into their economics,” Rubio said. “What will stop them is when you blow them up. You get rid of them.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-drone-strikes-cartel-drug-boat-trump-posts-video-for-world-to-see-beware">U.S. Drone Strikes Cartel Drug Boat, Trump Posts Video For World To See: ‘BEWARE!’</a>

US-VOTE-POLITICS-DEBATE-VANCE-WALZ

‘I Don’t Give A S***’: Vance Goes Viral With Defense Of Cartel Strike

Donald Trump

Drug Cartels

Fentanyl

Illegal Immigration

JD Vance

Marco Rubio

Politics

Tren De Aragua

Venezuela

The Justice Department announced Wednesday a “first-of-its-kind” indictment against 22 Chinese nationals and three Americans for allegedly engaging in an international drug trafficking scheme targeting the United States. 
An indictment handed down Wednesday from a federal grand jury in Ohio takes aim at dozens of defendants and four Chinese companies for a plot to ship drug-cutting agents, used to dilute the product and increase its volume to boost profits, from China into America. All the defendants are charged with conspiring with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture and conspiring to launder money internationally.
“Today’s announcement marks a first-of-its-kind international operation for the FBI targeting the fentanyl plague that has killed tens of thousands of Americans and indicting the companies and individuals in mainland China that manufacture the precursor chemicals fueling the destruction of our communities,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. 
Prosecutors say that the companies used a number of Chinese nationals “located overseas” to negotiate for payments for illegal cutting agents to drug traffickers in Ohio. Cutting agents are often added to illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin, and meth. 
The Chinese companies targeted include Guangzhou Tengyue Chemical Company, Guangzhou Wanjiang Biotechnology Company, Hebei Hongjun New Material Technology Company, and Hebei Feilaimi Technology Company. 
The Americans charged in the operation include 39-year-old Eric Michael Payne of Ohio and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Auriyon Tresan Rayford. Ciandrea Bryne Davis of Atlanta was also charged for her alleged role in using cryptocurrency to pay Chinese nationals associated with companies for the drug-cutting agents. 
Payne is accused of purchasing several kilogram shipments of cutting agents from Chinese companies posing as legitimate pharmacies. He and the other Americans allegedly purchased at least 10 kilograms of fentanyl agents since 2022 that could be used in up to 150 kilograms of fentanyl mixture sold on the streets. 
“Our indictment alleges that Chinese companies and affiliated foreign nationals intentionally and openly marketed, delivered, and exported to the United States controlled substances and other compounds that they knew would be used by domestic drug dealers to increase the yield and potency of fentanyl distributed in this country,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Dominick Gerace II. “As explained in court documents, these deadly drug mixtures were then sold directly into our communities here in southern Ohio.”
The Chinese defendants were listed as Lihui Zhao, [name unknown], Shanhong Jiang, Yan Yang, Fengdi Zhang, Dehui Xia, Xing Wu Chen, Qing Lin Wang, Xiaojun Huang, Meixiang Yao, Zhanpeng Huang, Yuqing Feng, Dongjing Sun, Chengqi Nong, Tiduo Wei, Zhisong Nie, Jichao Zhu, Zhengzhe Yin, Changgen Du, Hongfei Wang, Huatao Yao, and Xuening Gao.

Press conference at White House

22 Chinese Nationals Charged In International Drug Trafficking Scheme

China

Department of Justice

Drugs

kash patel

Ohio

Thanks to China, the use of fentanyl at the workplace in America is soaring.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fentanyl-china-joni-ernst-intentionally-poisoning-americans/">said</a> back in February 2023 that China was conducting warfare against the United States by intentionally flooding the country with fentanyl, declaring, “The Chinese are selling these precursor chemicals into Mexico. Then the Mexican cartels are working on making the fentanyl and distributing up into the United States. I think that the Chinese are intentionally poisoning America.”
A National Drug Threat Assessment from the DEA <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2021-02/DIR-008-21%202020%20National%20Drug%20Threat%20Assessment_WEB.pdf">said</a> that the Mexican drug cartels “use a combination of methods to obtain chemicals used for fentanyl production in Mexico, primarily from sources originating in China, including purchases made on the open market, smuggling chemicals hidden in legitimate commercial shipments, mislabeling shipments to avoid controls and the attention of law enforcement, and diversion from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.”
“In randomized workplace drug tests, the presence of the <a href="https://archive.is/o/AIYI4/https:/www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/what-is-fentanyl-drug-opioid-health-safety-explained-11658341650">synthetic opioid fentanyl</a> was 1.13% in 2024. That is up from 0.91% in 2023 and double the rate in 2020, according to a recent analysis of more than eight million drug tests by Quest Diagnostics,” The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/fentanyl-work-drug-test-increase-0f0b1eff">reported</a>, adding, “Surprise random tests are a clearer indication of opioid use among workers than pre-employment screening, which subjects can prepare for ahead of time and even game to achieve negative results. &#8230; The opioid epidemic has been a persistent concern for workplaces, especially in occupations in the construction, mining and transportation industries.”
Peter Schweizer, author of “Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-is-the-senior-partner-directing-the-fentanyl-crisis-killing-americans-author-peter-schweizer-says">said</a> the fentanyl trade starts in China, asserting, “They’re the senior partner. The drug cartels are really the junior partner in the fentanyl trade.” He continued, “The Mexican drug cartels now launder their money in Chinese state-owned banks, and, according to our government, they use Chinese students in the United States on education visas to do this.”
In April 2024, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bill-barr-blasts-china-during-fentanyl-hearing-solely-responsible-for-mass-slaughter-in-u-s">told</a> the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, “The [People’s Republic of China] is the source of the fentanyl that is slaughtering Americans. China produces nearly all the illicit fentanyl precursors used and the fentanyl introduced into the United States. These are the indispensable ingredients that drive the fentanyl trade. There is no practical alternative for anywhere near the volume of precursors necessary to fuel this trade. Simply put, without China’s production and export of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors, there would be no fentanyl crisis in the United States and the mass slaughter would effectively stop.”

Fentanyl Crisis Escalates In U.S. Workplaces As China Fuels Supply Chain

Crime

Mexico

World

A class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, made in secret Chinese laboratories and 43 times more deadly than fentanyl, is now killing young Americans, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
After two young Texas men died this year from ingesting pills laced with nitazenes, their mothers have launched a campaign to get the U.S. government to focus more on the problem.
“Lucci Reyes-McCallister, 22, died January 26 near Houston, Texas, after taking a pill labeled as Xanax that was actually laced with N-Pyrrolidino Protonitazene, an emerging form of nitazene. &#8230; Hunter Clement, 21. died on April 10 after taking a nitazene-laced pill branded to look like a Percocet,” the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/11/us-news/little-known-synthetic-opioid-nitazene-is-up-to-43-times-more-deadly-than-fentanyl-resistant-to-narcan-and-killing-young-americans/">reported</a>.
“Sometimes I get mad because I couldn’t save my own son, but I do want to save other people, even if it’s just one person in honor of him,” Hunter Clement’s mother, Ruthi, told The Post.
Former acting DEA administrator Derek Maltz said the deaths were part of China’s “ongoing attack against America &#8230; As America is just now really starting to talk about fentanyl, we have now seen all these other substances that are popping up everywhere, and they’re coming out of these labs in China.”
In 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/NDTA_2024.pdf">reported</a> on the “dangerous shift from plant-based drugs to synthetic drugs,” adding:
This shift has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced. These synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, are responsible for nearly all of the fatal drug poisonings in our nation.
“The Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels are at the heart of this crisis,” continued. “These two Cartels are global criminal enterprises that have developed global supply chain networks. They rely on chemical companies and pill press companies in China to supply the precursor chemicals and pill presses needed to manufacture the drugs. They operate clandestine labs in Mexico where they manufacture these drugs, and then utilize their vast distribution networks to transport the drugs into the United States.”
“Nitazenes are sold by China-based chemical suppliers through online marketplaces, the Mexican cartels could easily use their existing relationships with those suppliers to obtain nitazenes,” the report stated.
Nitazene analogues were connected to at least five deaths in Philadelphia, “and a dozen more deaths may be attributed to the deadly drugs,” The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/drug-40-times-stronger-than-fentanyl-plagues-philadelphia">reported</a> in April 2024. “The health department suspects that a nitazene analogue known as N-desethyl isotonitazene was present in 12 overdose deaths in Philadelphia between November and December 2022,” the Philadelphia Inquirer <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/nitazenes-philadelphia-drug-overdoses-opioids-20240409.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/nitazenes-philadelphia-drug-overdoses-opioids-20240409.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712761220662000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0RLaCGzkDdLL2Bhk8u9NaE">reported</a>. Two other nitazene analogues were identified in an overdose victim who died in June 2023.”
Although the drug naloxone can be used to reverse the effects of fentanyl,  the normal dose of naloxone may not be enough to combat the effects of nitazenes.
“Customs <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/frontline/buyer-beware-bad-actors-exploit-de-minimis-shipments">officers at JFK are seeing the drug</a> coming through the airport ‘at least a few times a week in quantities ranging from just a few grams to upwards of a pound or more,’ Andrew Renna, Assistant Port Director for Cargo Operations at the airport, said in May,” The Post noted.

Alex Krotulski, 32, associate director and forensic toxicologis

Chinese-Made Opioid Deadlier Than Fentanyl Now Killing Young Americans

Mothers Whose Sons Died From Opioid Far More Lethal Than Fentanyl Alerting Others Of Lurking Menace

Nitazenes

The Trump administration announced sanctions against the leader of Tren de Aragua and other top lieutenants on Thursday amid a broader effort to choke off the transnational criminal organization’s access to cash.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted six leaders of the Venezuelan gang, which has been designated as a foreign terror organization by the Trump administration, including its leader, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores. Also known as Niño Guerrero, he has led the group as it has evolved from a prison gang into a broader criminal entity with a presence in the United States.
“Today’s action highlights the critical role of leaders like Niño Guerrero and his lieutenants in Tren de Aragua’s efforts to increase its destabilizing influence throughout the region,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The sanctions require that any Tren de Aragua property or funds in the United States, or those controlled by American financial institutions, be frozen and reported to the Treasury, thereby restricting the flow of funds back into the hands of the criminal enterprise.
The Treasury notes that Niño Guerrero has been involved in criminal activity for two decades and has led the criminal group as it has become more influential. The State Department is currently offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Guerrero.
The department also sanctioned Yohan Jose Romero, a “close lieutenant” of Guerrero, who the Trump administration says is “responsible for the group’s illegal mining efforts in Venezuela.”
“Johan Petrica provides Tren de Aragua with military-grade weapons used to control the streets of Venezuela and fight against Colombian guerrillas,” the Treasury Department notes.
​​Also sanctioned is Josue Angel Santana Pena, who “is alleged to be involved in homicide, extortion, bombings, terrorism, and theft,” and Niño Guerrero’s wife, Wendy Marbelys Rios Gomez, who the Treasury Department notes is involved in money laundering, terrorism, and terrorist financing.
The Trump administration also sanctioned Wilmer Jose Perez Castillo, who the Treasury Department said has carried out “murders of a policeman, a Venezuelan military official, and Venezuelan intelligence officials” on behalf of the organization.
Felix Anner Castillo Rondon, the leader of a Tren de Aragua cell operating in Chile, has also been sanctioned. His crew is implicated in a range of crimes, including homicides, human trafficking, sexual exploitation of women, narcotics trafficking, and money laundering.
“The Trump Administration will not allow Tren de Aragua to continue to terrorize our communities and harm innocent Americans. In line with President Trump’s mandate to Make America Safe Again, Treasury remains dedicated to dismantling Tren de Aragua and disrupting the group’s campaign of violence.”
The new sanctions come amid a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-treasury-official-reveals-how-the-trump-admin-is-choking-off-cartels-cash-flow?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Treasury+Official+Lays+Out+How+Trump+Is+Choking+Off+Cash+Flow+To+Cartels">sweeping effort</a> by the Treasury Department to cut off cash flow to cartels and gangs in an attempt to eliminate the financial incentives that drive the criminal entities’ drug and human trafficking operations.
Members of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-treasury-dept-launches-sanctions-targeting-sinaloa-cartel">Sinaloa Cartel</a>, the Cartel de Noreste, and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion have all been hit with Treasury sanctions since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent

Trump Admin Hits Tren De Aragua Leaders With Sanctions As Venezuelan Gang Infiltrates U.S.

Border

cartel

Immigration

sanction

Treasury

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill Wednesday aimed at ending the fentanyl drug crisis while surrounded by mothers and fathers of young people who lost their lives to the deadly drug.
&#8220;We&#8217;ll be getting the drug dealers, pushers, and peddlers off our street, and we will not rest until we have ended the drug overdose epidemic,&#8221; he promised attendees in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Trump promised that the legislation would take &#8220;a historic step toward justice for every family touched by the fentanyl scourge.&#8221;
The HALT Fentanyl Act permanently schedules fentanyl-related substances as &#8220;Fentanyl Analogs,&#8221; a classification that would expire at the end of the month without the new legislation. An analog is a copycat fentanyl that has been chemically changed just enough to skirt the law, but is just as deadly. The White House argues it must be prosecuted in the same way.
<div id="attachment_948077" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surrounded-by-angel-parents-trump-signs-bill-aimed-at-ending-fentanyl-drug-crisis/president-trump-holds-bill-signing-ceremony-at-the-white-house-5" rel="attachment wp-att-948077"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-948077" class="wp-image-948077 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225436610-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225436610-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225436610-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225436610-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2225436610.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Greg Swan, whose son Drew died as a result of a fentanyl-related substance, looks on as Trump speaks during the bill signing (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmd5yzrwf000c3b6ned8ypatf@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-article-gutter="true" data-analytics-observe="off">&#8220;Under the HALT Fentanyl Act, anyone who possesses, imports, distributes, or manufactures any illicit FRS (fentanyl-related substances) will be subject to criminal prosecution in the same manner as any other Schedule I controlled substance,&#8221; reads a White House document shared with The Daily Wire.
<p class="paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph" data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmd5yzrwf000d3b6nw7knhfd3@published" data-editable="text" data-component-name="paragraph" data-article-gutter="true" data-analytics-observe="off">&#8220;First, we close the loopholes criminals use to skirt around the law,&#8221; the document notes. &#8220;Second, we make it easier for law enforcement to prosecute those criminals.&#8221;
The new legislation amends the Controlled Substances Act to permanently classify these illicit fentanyl knockoffs as Schedule 1. And it fulfills some key campaign promises of Trump, who has heavily messaged to his supporters that he will rein in the fentanyl crisis.
&#8220;For four years, Joe Biden and Democrats hardly muttered a word about the fentanyl crisis, which remains the number one leading cause of death in our country,&#8221; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared in a statement ahead of the signing. &#8220;President Trump has made securing the border and ending the drug crisis a top priority, and today, he will further follow through on his commitment to the courageous fentanyl moms and dads who elected him to Make America Safe Again.&#8221;
A number of top Trump supporters who have been aggressive on border policy were also present at the event: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Fox News contributor Sara Carter, U.S. Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and Senator Jim Banks of Indiana filled the first few rows and were named by the president.
House Speaker Mike Johnson arrived slightly late to the bill signing and quietly slid into a seat in the back, where a delighted mother and son duo were quick to take photos with him.
The president invited several of the angel parents in attendance to speak at the podium. One father, whose son Drew was tragically killed by fentanyl, told Trump on Wednesday afternoon: &#8220;Thank you, Mr. President, for stopping the border crossings. Full stop.&#8221;
&#8220;We were being gaslit,&#8221; he added, &#8220;and you came and lit a fire to that story, and we&#8217;re a lot safer for it.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Surrounded by Angel Parents, Trump Signs Bill Aimed At Ending Fentanyl Drug Crisis

Border Crisis

Karoline Leavitt

The Trump administration identified three Mexican financial institutions that it says are complicit in laundering funds on behalf of criminal cartels that traffic fentanyl into the United States.
Two banks and one brokerage firm, which collectively manage $22 billion in assets, were identified by the Treasury Department on Wednesday as key players in the cartels’ fentanyl trafficking operations. The federal agency specifically accused the three institutions of laundering millions of dollars on behalf of the cartels and facilitating payments for the precursor chemicals for fentanyl, and now prohibits American financial institutions from carrying out certain transactions to and from the three Mexican institutions.
“Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0179">charged</a>.
“Through the first use of this powerful authority, today’s actions affirm Treasury’s commitment to using all tools at our disposal to counter the threat posed by criminal and terrorist organizations trafficking fentanyl and other narcotics.”
The Treasury Department specifically explained that a CIBanco employee authorized the creation of an account by a Gulf Cartel member who purportedly intended to launder $10 million. The executive agency also warned that the bank has a “long-standing pattern of associations, transactions, and provision of financial services” with the Gulf Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and the Beltran-Leyva Cartel.
Intercam executives are believed to have met with CJNG members to discuss money laundering schemes, which included processing transactions to and from China. Mexican companies also used Intercam to send more than a million dollars to a Chinese company with ties to an individual who shipped fentanyl precursor chemicals to Mexico.
Vector is similarly believed to assist in the procurement of those precursor chemicals on behalf of both the Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels. The federal agency asserts that a money launderer working on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel moved $2 million through Vector from 2013 to 2021.
The move marks another step in the Treasury’s campaign to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-treasury-official-reveals-how-the-trump-admin-is-choking-off-cartels-cash-flow?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Treasury+Official+Lays+Out+How+Trump+Is+Choking+Off+Cash+Flow+To+Cartels">choke off funds</a> from the criminal cartels. The agency has unveiled numerous sanctions against leaders and personnel from the Sinaloa Cartel, Tren de Aragua, and Cartel del Noreste.
“If the money is not flowing back south, then there’s less of an incentive to bring the drugs and the guns and some of the illicit activity up to the north,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender told The Daily Wire.

Trump Admin Sets Sights On Mexican Banks Laundering Fentanyl Cash For Cartels

Department of the Treasury

drug cartel

The Trump administration’s Department of the Treasury on Wednesday announced sanctions on leaders of a ruthless Mexican drug cartel in a move that the federal agency says will hinder the organization’s drug trafficking operations.
The sanctions targeted five key figures of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a vicious criminal enterprise that produces illicit drugs and traffics them into the United States.
“CJNG’s reign of terror across Mexico and its trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has destroyed countless innocent lives,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0169">said</a>. “The United States remains strongly committed to leveraging all available tools to degrade the capacity of CJNG and other cartels to flood our streets with dangerous drugs and perpetrate heinous acts of violence against civilians.”
Any property held by the five cartel members in the United States will now be frozen and reported to the federal government.
The Treasury Department described the organization as “a brutally violent cartel responsible for a significant share of fentanyl and other illicit drugs entering the United States,” adding, “It uses murder as a tactic to intimidate rivals, including sending messages to other cartels through the targeted killings of women.”
CJNG’s founder and leader, Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” was among the five men targeted.
“Under Oseguera’s direction, CJNG operatives have assassinated rivals, Mexican law enforcement, judges, and other government officials,” the Treasury Department noted, also pointing out that Oseguera’s leadership allowed the cartel to “function like a franchise business across several Mexican states,” allowing the criminal enterprise to spread across the country and rake in billions of dollars from the drug trade.
The Treasury also sanctioned Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez, who it identified as a senior CJNG member and the son-in-law of Oseguera. Castillo, believed to be a possible successor to Oseguera, operates a port in southwestern Mexico that the cartel uses to import fentanyl precursors.
Another target, Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, is known to recruit new CJNG members and train them at Izaguirre Ranch, a facility in the Mexican state of Jalisco, according to the Trump administration. Mendoza “directed lieutenants to train new CJNG recruits and kill those who defied instructions” and “has also been involved in the murder of numerous law enforcement officers,” the Treasury Department said.
The Treasury hit two more CJNG operatives, Audias Flores Silva and Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, with sanctions. Flores is a regional CJNG commander over several Mexican states and oversees laboratories that produce methamphetamine, while Ruiz runs the CJNG’s propaganda wing. Ruiz is also believed to have killed his girlfriend during a live social media broadcast.
The flurry of sanctions comes after the Treasury Department previously unveiled similar sanctions against members of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-treasury-dept-launches-sanctions-targeting-sinaloa-cartel">Sinaloa Cartel</a> and <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0146">Cartel de Noreste</a>. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender told The Daily Wire in an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-treasury-official-reveals-how-the-trump-admin-is-choking-off-cartels-cash-flow?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=28&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Treasury+Official+Lays+Out+How+Trump+Is+Choking+Off+Cash+Flow+To+Cartels">exclusive interview</a> that the sanctions are a key tool in the Trump administration’s fight against the Mexican drug cartels.
“If the money is not flowing back south, then there’s less of an incentive to bring the drugs and the guns and some of the illicit activity up to the north,” he explained.

CJNG Graffiti

Treasury Dept Sanctions Five Key Leaders Of Mexican Drug Cartel

Scott Bessent

Treasury Department

The United States partnered with European authorities to shut down one of the world’s largest darknet drug trafficking websites, which is also one of the few online marketplaces for fentanyl.
American officials partnered with Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, to shut down Archetyp Market, which authorities say had trafficked at least $290 million worth of drugs to more than 600,000 users over five years.
A law enforcement coalition that included the national police forces of several European nations and multiple American agencies conducted a three-day operation across five countries. Officers seized Archetyp Market infrastructure in the Netherlands and arrested a 30-year-old German administrator in Barcelona.
One Archetyp Market moderator and six of the market’s highest vendors were also apprehended, along with around $9 million in assets.
“With over 17,000 listings, it is one of the few darknet markets that allowed the sale of fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids,” <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/europe-wide-takedown-hits-longest-standing-dark-web-drug-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Europol</a> wrote on its website.
The operation required “years of intensive investigative work” to “map the platform’s technical architecture and identify the individuals behind it.” Law enforcement achieved this by “tracing financial flows, analysing digital forensic evidence, and working closely with partners on the ground.”
&#8220;With this takedown, law enforcement has taken out one of the dark web&#8217;s longest-running drug markets, cutting off a major supply line for some of the world&#8217;s most dangerous substances.&#8221; Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, deputy executive director of operations at Europol, stated, per Reuters.
&#8220;By dismantling its infrastructure and arresting its key players, we are sending a clear message: there is no safe haven for those who profit from harm.”
All that’s left of the site is a seizure banner and a link to “Operation Deep Sentinel,” a <a href="https://operation-deepsentinel.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> warning any remaining users that “Everything comes to an end.”

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman Announces Large Heroin Bust

United States, Europe Shut Down Major Dark Web Fentanyl Market

European Union

United States

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lit up The Washington Post during Tuesday&#8217;s briefing, shining a spotlight on what she called &#8220;one of the most ridiculous headlines ever&#8221; on the topic of drug seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The article she highlighted was headlined, &#8220;The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border,&#8221; and it purported to outline the &#8220;complex&#8221; reasons behind the fact that fentanyl seizures had plummeted in recent weeks. Leavitt argued that the reasons were neither complex nor mysterious, saying, as President Donald Trump has, that it could all be chalked up as the obvious result of the American people electing a different president.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> slams the Fake News Washington Post: &#8220;There is no mystery about why there is a decrease of fentanyl coming into the United States. This Administration&#8217;s strong border policies are the reason!&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/RJlWO7EyWp">pic.twitter.com/RJlWO7EyWp</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1929951219130221006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The Washington Post just ran one of the most ridiculous headlines ever — even by their standards,&#8221; Leavitt began. &#8220;And on my very first briefing, several months ago, I said I would hold anyone accountable in this room. The Washington Post actually had this headline: &#8216;The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border.'&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday&amp;_gl=1*1qdq03s*_gcl_au*MTYyNDg0MTE0OS4xNzQxODk4NTMz*_ga*MTEzOTk1NjkxNi4xNzI2MzI1MDQz*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NDgzNzg2NDgkbzEwMDMkZzEkdDE3NDgzODEwMTckajU4JGwwJGgw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;How is this mysterious?&#8221; Leavitt asked. &#8220;There is no mystery about why there is a decrease in fentanyl coming into the United States. This administration&#8217;s strong border policies are the reason there has been a decrease in fentanyl trafficking. [Trump&#8217;s] strengthened relationship with Mexican President Sheinbaum and all of the measures he has been taking to deter illegal human and drug trafficking at our United States southern border is the reason for plummeting fentanyl seizures at the U.S. border. There is nothing mysterious about that, and we&#8217;d like to see The Washington Post update their headline accordingly.&#8221;
Leavitt went on to say that the White House had provided WaPo with a lengthy list of the Trump administration policies that had brought about the drop in fentanyl seizures at the border, but that the outlet had refused to include them.
&#8220;This [is] clearly trying to intentionally manipulate the minds of the – Americans — and I think the American people understand why there&#8217;s been a fentanyl drop,&#8221; Leavitt said. &#8220;That&#8217;s despicable.&#8221;

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

‘There Is No Mystery’: Karoline Leavitt Lights Up WaPo Over ‘Ridiculous’ Fentanyl Headline

'There Is No Mystery': Karoline Leavitt Lights Up WaPo Over 'Ridiculous' Fentanyl Headline

border security

Media

Washington Post

WASHINGTON—A nationally recognized crime analyst says 2025 may see the lowest murder rate ever recorded, and the White House is touting the news as evidence of President Donald Trump&#8217;s tough-on-crime policies.
“Since President Trump took office, murder rates have plummeted across the entire United States,&#8221; White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Tuesday morning.
&#8220;American families were promised their communities would be safer and President Trump swiftly delivered by vocally being tough on crime, unequivocally backing law enforcement, and standing firm on violent criminals being held to the fullest extent of the law,&#8221; she added.
Her remarks come after analyst Jeff Asher, <a href="https://www.ahdatalytics.com/about-us/">co-founder</a> of AH Datalytics, <a href="https://jasher.substack.com/p/how-2025-could-feature-the-lowest">found more than</a> a 20% decrease in murders from 2024, including murders down 31.6% in Baltimore, 34.5% in St. Louis, 36.8% in Cleveland, 63% in Denver, 30.6% in New Orleans, 26.8% in New York, and 23.7% in Chicago.
<div style="width: 1250px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F35d1e759-47b9-44c2-aa2a-08a6b7a8a664_1240x1996.png" alt="Jeff Asher crime statistics, Substack. " width="1240" height="1996" />Jeff Asher, Substack.</div>
Asher hedges that the trend could &#8220;regress back towards a more normal rate of decline,&#8221; but he still argues that &#8220;it’s fairly clear that a decline in the direction we’re currently seeing would safely give 2025 the title of lowest US murder rate ever recorded.&#8221;
Rafael Mangual, a Manhattan Institute fellow and member of the Council on Criminal Justice, told The Daily Wire that there are a number of factors behind the drop in homicides, including &#8220;depopulation in urban America, more police activity across the country, an increase in the incarceration rate over the last couple of years, as well as the fact that, the homicide spikes and shooting spikes took a lot of would-be shooters off the street permanently.&#8221; 
Homicide rates in the United States rose in 2020, peaked in 2021, and have steadily fallen since.
Trump has made fighting crime a major goal of his second term, particularly in Washington, D.C. Violent crime rose 33% in the nation&#8217;s capital in 2023, making it Washington&#8217;s <a href="https://thespectator.com/topic/donald-trump-move-fast-break-things-tactic-washington-dc-safer/">deadliest year</a> in two decades. Violent crime <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/violent-crime-dc-hits-30-year-low">dropped</a> 35% between 2023 and 2024, likely the result of the appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia deciding to ramp up prosecutions towards the end of his term.
On the campaign trail, Trump said he would &#8220;take over our horribly run” capital, a promise he delivered on in March, when he signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/making-the-district-of-columbia-safe-and-beautiful/">executive order</a> creating the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.&#8221; The task force is directed to combat crime and restore public order by clearing homeless encampments and cracking down on lower-level offenses like turnstile jumping and public urination.
But Trump&#8217;s efforts to restore public order have gone beyond Washington, as well. His administration&#8217;s crackdown on illegal crossings at the southern border has led to the largest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-make-largest-fentanyl-bust-in-history-arrest-illegal-alien-with-ties-to-deadly-cartel?author=Spencer+Lindquist+and+Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Feds+Make+Largest+Fentanyl+Bust+In+History%2C+Arrest+Illegal+Alien+With+Ties+To+Deadly+Cartel">fentanyl bust</a> in history, and his Treasury Department has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-treasury-dept-launches-sanctions-targeting-sinaloa-cartel?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%E2%80%99s+Treasury+Dept+Launches+Sanctions+Targeting+Sinaloa+Cartel">issued sanctions</a> against the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in an effort to disrupt their operations.
Late last month, The Washington Post reported on &#8220;The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border,&#8221; quickly drawing criticism from Republicans. On X, Texas Rep. Troy Nehls wrote that there was &#8220;nothing &#8216;mysterious&#8217; about the drop in fentanyl seizures at the southern border,&#8221; noting that &#8220;President Trump’s America First border security policies are working.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Let me be clear:
There’s nothing “mysterious” about the drop in fentanyl seizures at the southern border.
President Trump’s America First border security policies are working. <a href="https://t.co/w8jkLfqQli">pic.twitter.com/w8jkLfqQli</a>
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepTroyNehls/status/1929707387596034132?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Department of Homeland Security also weighed in on X, saying, &#8220;It’s no mystery. On day one, @POTUS Trump closed our borders to drug traffickers. From March 2024 to March 2025 fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54%.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s no mystery. On day one, <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> Trump closed our borders to drug traffickers. From March 2024 to March 2025 fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54%.
The world has heard the message loud and clear. <a href="https://t.co/7RJVY8ISwS">pic.twitter.com/7RJVY8ISwS</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1929357886448091400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Fentanyl killed over <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2025/20250514.htm">48,000 Americans</a> in 2024, according to the CDC.

Republican Nominee Donald Trump Campaigns For President Across Pennsylvania

White House Touts Plummeting Murder Rates Under President Trump

Homicide

White House

We&#8217;ve been trending in this direction for some time now, but after yesterday&#8217;s ruling by a three-judge panel on the United States Court of International Trade in Manhattan — which struck down all of the Trump administration&#8217;s tariffs — it&#8217;s now official: We don&#8217;t need any more rulings from federal judges about what the president of the United States isn&#8217;t allowed to do. Those are completely pointless. Instead, what we need, in our alleged first-world democracy, is a ruling from some federal court explaining, in as much detail as possible, what exactly the president of the United States does have the authority to do while in office. That would be the most efficient way forward, at this point.
In just the past five months, federal courts have held that the Trump administration has no authority to do the following:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Change federal government websites</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Fire any Executive Branch employees</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Ban mentally disturbed individuals from joining the armed forces </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Eliminate slush funds for corrupt NGOs</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Stop funneling billions of dollars of taxpayer money to anti-white universities like Harvard</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Eliminate wasteful &#8220;administrative spending&#8221; that&#8217;s tacked onto every single scientific grant</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deport illegal alien gang members — even the wife-beaters and terrorists</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Cut federal funding to child castration services for children</li>
</ul>
And now, after all of these rulings and dozens more like them, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/worlds-stock-markets-react-to-court-ruling-against-trumps-tariffs?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=11&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=World%E2%80%99s+Stock+Markets+React+To+Court+Ruling+Against+Trump%E2%80%99s+Tariffs">we heard last night</a> from the U.S. Court of International Trade that the president of the United States also does not have the power to impose emergency tariffs on foreign nations. Before we go into the details about this ruling and the problems I have with it, there&#8217;s a very important point that needs to be made here, which is this: Even if you think tariffs are a terrible idea — and really even if you believe that the Court of International Trade made the right ruling in this particular case — you simply cannot deny that the judicial system in this country, because of its own overzealousness, has never been less legitimate than it is right now.
The sheer number of injunctions that have been issued, blocking every single agenda item that the democratically elected president has attempted to execute, is unprecedented in the history of the United States. We&#8217;re in comical, “jump-the-shark” territory. And that&#8217;s a very, very big deal, because courts don&#8217;t have militaries. They can&#8217;t enforce their own rulings. When they lose legitimacy, they lose everything. And with this latest ruling, on top of all the other rulings, legitimacy is long gone.
So who does have legitimacy? Where does legitimacy come from? For judges, legitimacy comes from restraint and consistency, and adherence to the law. For presidents, it comes from democratic elections. It comes from campaigning, and openly telling voters what you plan to do, if and when you&#8217;re elected. And with that in mind, you will not find a single person — even the most deranged anchor on MSNBC — who will disagree with this statement: Donald Trump explicitly campaigned on imposing massive tariffs on foreign nations in order to return manufacturing to the United States. That was always a core plank of his domestic agenda. That doesn&#8217;t mean you have to agree with him. You can feel however you want about tariffs. But it does mean that Trump&#8217;s plan was put to a vote. And the American people decided that Donald Trump&#8217;s economic agenda was the best way forward. That&#8217;s legitimacy. If that&#8217;s not legitimacy, then legitimacy has no meaning. And neither does democracy.
Again, even on MSNBC, they concede this point. Last night, as he was celebrating this court decision, the perpetually unhinged Lawrence O&#8217;Donnell admitted that Trump&#8217;s entire campaign was about tariffs. He says he was talking about tariffs the whole time — and he blames the &#8220;campaign press&#8221; for not talking about tariffs enough. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 unconstitutional Tariffs" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O-_kzh1ORhE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The point of this little diatribe from Lawrence O&#8217;Donnell is to suggest that, if only the &#8220;campaign press&#8221; had covered Trump&#8217;s tariffs a little bit more, then the voters would have rejected his entire candidacy. This is a very familiar tactic on the Left. They did the same thing with Russiagate. They claimed that, if only people knew that the Russian government had spent $100,000 on Facebook memes back in 2016, then they would never have voted against Hillary Clinton. You poor, poor voters. You&#8217;re always being tricked by Donald Trump. You have no agency whatsoever. Thankfully, the courts will correct that little problem for you.
This is about as undemocratic as it gets. It is asinine, narcissistic and above all, totalitarian. Of course, it wasn&#8217;t just this one MSNBC blowhard who discovered that Trump was talking about tariffs all the time. The entire country heard Trump talk about tariffs. And then they overwhelmingly decided to elect him. And that should matter, more than anything else. Unless the president clearly and unambiguously exceeds his authority under the constitution, then the courts should respect the will of the voters.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1605-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
And in this case, if you read the ruling from the panel of judges on the United States Court of International Trade, you&#8217;ll discover that Donald Trump did not actually exceed his authority. In order to come to the opposite conclusion, a lot of mental gymnastics were required on the part of this three-judge panel. I want to start with the court&#8217;s handling of Trump&#8217;s fentanyl-related tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. At the moment this ruling was issued, the tariffs stood at 25% for Mexican and Canadian products, and 20% for Chinese products (with an exception for Canadian energy, which remained at 10%).
Normally, the president can&#8217;t issue tariffs that are quite this high. However, as you probably remember, the Trump administration determined — rightly — that fentanyl trafficking is a national emergency because tens of thousands of Americans are dying each year from fentanyl that&#8217;s imported from overseas. Therefore, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the White House asserted its authority to impose substantial tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China — tariffs that are much higher than they otherwise could be.
Under this emergency act, the president is allowed to, “&#8230; deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.&#8221;
Again, the president can, “deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States &#8230; if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.&#8221;
That&#8217;s a direct quote from the text of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which became law in the 1970s. That&#8217;s the authority Congress delegated to the president. Under this Act, the president can impose substantial tariffs to &#8220;deal with&#8221; any &#8220;extraordinary threat,&#8221; as long as he declares a national emergency. So you might be asking: Isn&#8217;t that exactly what happened in this case? Didn&#8217;t Trump impose the fentanyl tariffs in order to pressure countries like Mexico and China to stop allowing fentanyl into this country? Under the terms of this law, isn&#8217;t the president implementing these tariffs to &#8220;deal with&#8221; the fentanyl crisis?
According to the trade court, the answer to that question is no. Here&#8217;s their reasoning. They focus extensively on the words &#8220;Deal with&#8221; in the law that I just read.
Here&#8217;s what <a href="https://www.cit.uscourts.gov/sites/cit/files/25-66.pdf">they said</a>:
<blockquote>&#8216;Deal with&#8217; connotes a direct link between an act and the problem it purports to address. A tax deals with a budget deficit by raising revenue. A dam deals with flooding by holding back a river. But there is no such association between the act of imposing a tariff and the &#8216;unusual and extraordinary threats&#8217; that the [Fentanyl] Trafficking Orders purport to combat. &#8230; The [Fentanyl] Trafficking Orders do not &#8216;deal with&#8217; their stated objectives. Rather, as the Government acknowledges, the Orders aim to create leverage to &#8216;deal with&#8217; those objectives.</blockquote>
In other words, the court is acknowledging that the fentanyl tariffs are being used by the Trump administration as a form of leverage, which can force foreign countries to &#8220;deal with&#8221; the fentanyl problem. But they&#8217;re claiming that, under the law, that&#8217;s not allowed. That&#8217;s not how you&#8217;re supposed to &#8220;deal with&#8221; fentanyl, according to this three-judge panel. The judges are saying that the Trump administration is assuming too much power, and that &#8220;leverage&#8221; isn&#8217;t the appropriate way to &#8220;deal with&#8221; an emergency. Therefore, apparently, the Trump administration needed to impose a tariff specifically on fentanyl imports, or something like that — even though it would obviously accomplish nothing at all, because no one is declaring their fentanyl shipments at the border.
I want to emphasize this a little more, because this part of the ruling really deserves more attention than it&#8217;s getting. Congress passed a law that allows the president to &#8220;deal with&#8221; any emergency he declares. And now, decades later, this trade court is saying, in effect — &#8220;no, you can&#8217;t deal with it like that.&#8221; But there&#8217;s nothing in the law that justifies their ruling. The court just makes it up. The only reasoning that the court provides — which is contained in two paragraphs at the end of their opinion — is that the Trump administration&#8217;s approach would justify any kind of tariff they wanted to impose, no matter how ridiculous. They&#8217;re saying that, if Trump can use &#8220;leverage&#8221; as a justification, then he can impose whatever tariff he wants. But that&#8217;s not true. There has to be an underlying emergency, first of all. And the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans every year certainly qualifies.
Additionally, there&#8217;s evidence that, in this case, Trump&#8217;s &#8220;leverage&#8221; is indeed working. Within days of Trump&#8217;s sweeping tariffs on Canada, for example, Trudeau appointed a fentanyl czar and pledged to screen exports more carefully, in order to prevent fentanyl from entering into this country.
So we&#8217;re not talking about some arbitrary tariff that has no connection to reality. We&#8217;re talking about a tariff that has already produced tangible results that will stem the flow of fentanyl. But apparently, that&#8217;s not good enough.
I&#8217;m highlighting this part of the ruling because it underscores the extent of the judicial coup we&#8217;re witnessing. Congress delegated authority to the president to &#8220;deal with&#8221; an emergency. He attempted to do that. And then the court overrides him, based on ad hoc reasoning that invalidates the will of the voters, who elected the Trump administration (and the members of Congress who passed that emergency tariff law). Again, it&#8217;s fine if you think the tariffs are a bad idea, or good idea, or if you have mixed feelings about it. But the solution, in that case, is for Congress to rescind the tariff power — in whole or in part. The solution is not for random courts in Manhattan to override the president and the Congress, based on very strained interpretations of the law.
This ruling has already been appealed, and it&#8217;s clear that the Trump administration can still impose tariffs — albeit reduced ones — under the non-emergency tariff powers that have been passed by Congress. And late on Thursday, a federal appeals court put a temporary stay on the court&#8217;s ruling. So the ultimate outcome here is still uncertain. What&#8217;s not uncertain is that federal judges, once again, have undermined what&#8217;s left of their legitimacy with this ruling. If this had been the very first injunction against a Trump administration policy, it wouldn’t be as much of a crisis. People may even give the judges the benefit of the doubt throughout the appeals process. But we&#8217;ve seen more than 100 rulings like this by now. This is unsustainable — to the point that, if one of these federal judges somehow manages to issue a good ruling, no one will follow it. That&#8217;s not the ideal outcome for this country or the rule of law, obviously. But with this decision from a court that no one has ever heard of — which erases the president&#8217;s congressionally-approved authority to &#8220;deal with&#8221; national emergencies — it&#8217;s the outcome that now appears to be inevitable.

Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Executive Order Aimed At WilmerHale Law Firm

These Federal Judges Are Trying To Stop Trump From Dealing With The Fentanyl Crisis

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