White House blasts Washington Post for its 'pathetic' response to drop in fentanyl

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

The White House published an article about the 'mysterious drop' in fentanyl making its way across the border.
The dangerous opioid has seeped into the US for years, killing nearly 50,000 Americans alone in 2024, according to the CDC.
Fentanyl is often trafficked across the border by cartels and criminals, and during his campaign, President Donald Trump promised to increase border security and crack down on illegal immigration in an attempt to lower crime and hunt down 'foreign terrorist organizations' known for bringing the deadly drug into the states.
The average monthly fentanyl seizures in the US have drastically dropped from 1,700 pounds in 2024 to 746 pounds this year, per Customs and Border Protection data.
Despite Trump vowing to tackle the crisis head on and the number of seizures going down more than 50 percent, The Washington Post described the drop as 'something of mystery.'
'The contraction represents something of a mystery, say antidrug agents and researchers. Are Mexican cartels producing less fentanyl? Or have they simply found new ways to sneak it across the border?
'Fentanyl is still cheap and widely available in the United States, according to analysts and drug enforcement agents,' the outlet continued.
The article left many puzzled and enraged, including Trump's administration, as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X: '@washingtonpost is pathetic.'
Several others, including the Department of Homeland Security, agreed with Leavitt, adding: '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%. The world has heard the message loud and clear.'
Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany also chimed in, adding: 'The Washington Post is reporting a 'mysterious drop' in fentanyl seizures at the southern border. Mystery solved! The Trump effect is working.'
'Four months into the Trump administration, The Washington Post is marveling at the "mysterious" drop in fentanyl seizures on the Mexican border,' Charlie Kirk, a well-known conservative influencer, wrote.
'Is the Post simply lying, or are their reporters as dumb as the people they're writing propaganda for?'
'The Washington Post can't figure out the "mysterious" drop in fentanyl seizure at the border. It's almost as if having real protection there works! Wild concept...,' another said.
Someone else commented: 'Are you really this ignorant at the Washington Post? Fentanyl seizures are down because we have a president who is enforcing our laws now, ya nitwits!'
The article first addressed that seizures are 'plummeting' in the US, but with a decent amount of skepticism, calling it a 'puzzling reality.'
'After years of confiscating rising amounts of fentanyl, the opioid that has fueled the most lethal drug epidemic in American history, U.S. officials are confronting a new and puzzling reality at the Mexican border. Fentanyl seizures are plummeting,' the outlet wrote.
It went on to quote the White House, who previously said the drop was 'thanks to President Trump's policies empowering law enforcement officials to dismantle drug trafficking networks.'
'Yet the decline started before Trump took office in January. (While officials only manage to detect part of the fentanyl crossing the border, the figure serves as a proxy for supply),' the article added.
At another point, the outlet said the drop if fentanyl trafficking 'may' be because of ongoing feud in the Sinaloa Cartel between the son of infamous drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada.
They each run two factions within the cartel.
'Hundreds of people have been killed. Gunmen throwing grenades and firing assault rifles have blocked Highway 15, the region's main road to the U.S. border,' The Washington Post said.
'The government of President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken advantage of the turmoil in the cartel to arrest scores of leading members. That may have made it even harder for them to keep up fentanyl production.'
While the cartel has been facing a brawl, in early May, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the US executed the largest fentanyl bust in the country's history.
She said 11.5 kilos, or 25.4lbs of the lethal drug were seized during the bust. That totaled to about three million fentanyl pills.
The multi-agency operation, headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), also saw 16 people arrested, including Alberto Salazar Amaya, a high-ranking Sinaloa cartel member.
Bondi said they found Amaya living in Salem, Oregon. The drugs were found in Utah, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona, she added.
'More arrests are coming, I guarantee you that,' Bondi said during a news conference.
'And these dealers, these sellers, these street-level sellers, better look out, because we will not be negotiating with you. We will bring you to justice, and we will not stop until this poison is off our streets in our country.'