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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Issues: fentanyl

Trump Again Overstates Number of Drug Overdose Deaths in U.S.

Trump Again Overstates Number of Drug Overdose Deaths in U.S.
September 12, 2025

Reviving an unfounded claim he has made for several years, President Donald Trump on Sept. 5 overstated the number of Americans who died in 2024 of drug overdoses, saying that he believed 300,000 or “350,000 people died last year from drugs.” A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told us the provisional number of drug overdose deaths in 2024 was 79,383, and an expert in addiction medicine told us Trump’s number was “a gross exaggeration.”

Bondi Far Overstates the Impact of Fentanyl Seizures on American Lives

Bondi Far Overstates the Impact of Fentanyl Seizures on American Lives
May 7, 2025

In the April 30 meeting of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, which followed his 100th day in office, Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the president’s progress so far and highlighted efforts to curb the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. But Bondi overstated the impact of drug seizures, claiming that they had saved the lives of more than half of all Americans.

FactChecking Trump’s Address to Congress

FactChecking Trump’s Address to Congress
March 5, 2025

In his first address to a joint session of Congress in his second term, President Donald Trump distorted the facts on fraud, immigration, aid to Ukraine, the economy, autism and more.

Illegal Immigration and Fentanyl at the U.S. Northern and Southwest Borders

Illegal Immigration and Fentanyl at the U.S. Northern and Southwest Borders
January 28, 2025

In recent remarks to the press, President Donald Trump restated his intention to impose 25% tariffs on U.S. imports from Mexico and Canada as early as Feb. 1. His reasoning: “vast” illegal immigration and “massive” amounts of fentanyl coming to the U.S. from those countries. But Trump drew a false equivalence between the two countries. In fact, the magnitude of the difference is enormous.

Harris Makes Unsupported Claim About Fentanyl Flows

Harris Makes Unsupported Claim About Fentanyl Flows
October 11, 2024

Federal data do not show that “the flow” or “intake” of illegal fentanyl into the United States has been cut “by half” during the Biden-Harris administration, as Vice President Kamala Harris claimed in television interviews.

FactChecking the Vice Presidential Debate

FactChecking the Vice Presidential Debate
October 2, 2024

Despite a mostly civil debate between Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the two disagreed repeatedly not just on policy, but also on the facts. We referee some of those competing claims, and other factual missteps by the vice presidential candidates.

FactChecking Tim Scott’s Presidential Campaign Announcement

FactChecking Tim Scott’s Presidential Campaign Announcement
May 23, 2023

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina announced on May 22 that he will seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024. We reviewed his speech — and an exclusive NBC News interview he did shortly after — and found that he made a few claims that were false, misleading or lacked important context.