U.S. Senator Steve Daines appeared on Fox Business to discuss President Trump’s actions against Venezuelan narcoterrorism and the impact of illegal drugs in the United States.
During the interview, Daines emphasized the severity of drug-related deaths in America. He stated, “I think it’s really important. As I listen to these reports, just step back and remember why the President has taken this fight to these narco-terrorists. He’s dealing with Maduro, who was an indicted narco-terrorist himself, the leader of Venezuela. We think about the war on drugs affecting the United States of America. 105,000 Americans died in 2023. If you take the sum of the deaths of illegal drugs in the United States for the last seven years alone, it exceeds the casualties that we had in World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. And there’s probably a two and a half trillion-dollar impact on our economy. So, I we think we’re losing sight of the big picture here on why the President is taking this fight to the narco-terrorists. Look, when you’ve got situations of war and you’ve got narco-terrorists, it’s sometimes not always a pretty and clear picture. And I know there’ll be plenty of investigations going on to see what’s going on, what’s happened, but I am thankful that we have a President. And the American people stand with President Trump in taking this fight to the narco-terrorists versus allowing them to take this fight to our shores.”
Daines also commented on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s response to U.S. policy: “I tell you, these narco-terrorists, they only respect one thing and that’s strength. They exploit weakness. In fact, they exploited Joe Biden. Cocaine deaths were up 85 percent under Joe Biden’s watch with Maduro as President of Venezuela and Joe Biden as President of the United States. And so, when he sees the heavy hand of the United States, the threats that President Trump has made, it would not surprise me if he decides to flee the country.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023—a number higher than many previous years—and noted synthetic opioids like fentanyl contributed significantly.
Drug trafficking organizations based in countries such as Venezuela have been linked by U.S authorities to increased distribution networks reaching into American communities.
The economic burden associated with illicit drug use is estimated at trillions over several years due to health care costs and lost productivity.