White House trade adviser and ex-convict Peter Navarro told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Wednesday, that “Canada has been taken over, Bret, by Mexican cartels. They bring up these pill presses and printers, and the medicines that they fake, you can’t tell the difference.”
Navarro was running interference for his boss, who walked back his big trade war tariffs against Canada and Mexico in less than 48 hours. (Though he continues to flip-flop on the tariffs at a breakneck pace.) President Donald Trump chose to continue his attack on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—after folding like a cheap suit—by claiming that fentanyl smuggling was an enormous problem along the Canadian border.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, only 43 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the Canadian border in 2024. During that same period, more than 21,000 pounds were seized along the Mexican border. So, of the more than 21,043 pounds of fentanyl seized at our country’s borders in 2024, approximately 0.2% of it came through Canada.
Navarro’s wonderlandian assertion was quickly parroted, albeit with less hyperbole, by Trump’s other minions. White House press secretary, and front-facing lie machine, Karoline Leavitt had this to say when she was presented with those facts by Senior White House Correspondent for NBS News Gabe Gutierrez.
Gutierrez: Respectfully. It's just 43 pounds that were found last year. That's less than a carry-on suitcase. Is that a lot of fentanyl compared to, say, Mexico? The vast majority of the fentanyl is brought in through Mexico, not Canada. So what else does Canada need to do?
Leavitt: Well, I just told you, last year alone, there was a 2,000% increase in illegal fentanyl. If you're asking me, you're asking me for what the president's justification is for these tariffs. It's not up to you. You're not the president, Gabe.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick performed even less coherently when asked about the incongruity by CNBC. “I think autopsy deaths, as horrible as that is, should be the statistic,” Lutnick said, but when pressed, added: “Remember, the process in America for tariffs is that the president launched a study. And those are the rules of tariffs in America.” Huh?
In 2019, the Treasury Department deemed “the most common distribution method” for fentanyl into our country was by way of China and the mail. The Biden administration had been making headway on an agreement to get help from China on their end.
On Thursday, bipartisan legislation was introduced by Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican from Idaho, and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, that targets fentanyl coming into the U.S. by way of China and Mexico. The bill looks to expand the authority to sanction “state-owned or state-controlled Chinese entities, including banks,” according to the Associated Press.
For his part, Trump has pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the notorious creator of Silk Road—an online marketplace for criminal activity—who prosecutors described as being “the kingpin of a worldwide digital drug-trafficking enterprise.” So much for being tough on drugs.
Trump calls himself a king. But we know we are not a nation of kings—and we never will be. Get your Daily Kos T-shirt or hat to spread the message and wear it with pride: No Kings.
