Trump leaves people baffled by claiming almost the entire US population died from drug overdoses last year

Donald Trump gave a rather confusing response when defending a military operation attacking alleged drug traffickers.

Trump insisted, prior to becoming president for the second time, that he would be tough on drugs and countries that allow criminals to get them into the US.

At the beginning of this month, he announced on social media that the US had undergone a successful military operation involving alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua transporting drugs on a boat.

The POTUS said the vessel was in international waters and transporting illegal narcotics bound for the States.

This military operation resulted in the deaths of 11 ‘terrorists’ transporting the drugs.

On September 2, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "Earlier this morning, on my Orders, US Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.

Donald Trump claimed '300 million' died from drug overdoses last year (Fox News)

"The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!"

In a recent interview on Fox News, Trump addressed the comments from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on the operation, as he said the killing of the suspects was 'illegal'.

When asked for his response, Trump said: "What’s illegal are the drugs that were on the boat, and the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs, that’s what’s illegal."

This figure is seemingly far off from the actual number, especially considering that there is an estimated US population of around 340 million people.

In the 12 months ending March 2025, there were nearly 75,000 drug overdose deaths in the US, down from highs of around 111,000 recorded two years earlier, according to official figures from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the event that Trump was referring to global drug deaths, his math is still quite off by a considerable amount.

Trump's math is still off even if you consider global drug overdose deaths (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in June 2024 that drug use accounted for 600,000 deaths globally.

As you can imagine, many people took to social media to mock the president over this apparent blunder.

California congressional hopeful Eric Garcia posted on X: "Almost the entire U.S. population died from drugs last year!!!! Someone who loves this man needs to get him the help he needs."

Ben Meiselas, co-founder of the liberal news outlet MeidasTouch, shared the clip and joked: "He’s wrong. It’s a billion gazillion people."

Conservative lawyer and commentator George Conway added: "The great thing about Labor Day weekend when we didn’t hear from him is we had a pleasant respite from hearing him say idiotic things."

UNILAD has contacted the White House for comment.

If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.