Donald Trump believes the "stolen" 2020 presidential election has resulted in China being less willing to enforce the death penalty for fentanyl manufacturers.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in private and as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco. The two leaders discussed fentanyl trafficking, the restoration of communication between their countries' militaries, and cooperation in slowing methane emissions and increasing renewable energy by 2030.
Though Biden maintained that he wants the U.S. to economically compete with China "responsibly," there was no resolution to tensions over the possibility that China could invade Taiwan. And, for the second time in five months, Biden referred to Xi as a "dictator"—much to the chagrin of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Trump, for his part, reacted to the meeting by writing Thursday on Truth Social: "President Xi and I had a deal whereby China was going to criminalize at the highest level, THE DEATH PENALTY, the manufacturing of Fentanyl. That deal miraculously disappeared with our RIGGED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020. Too bad!!! One more thing to add to the Stolen Election List of Disasters!"
In 2022, roughly 68 percent (about 72,000) of approximately 107,081 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. directly involved synthetic opioids other than methadone, notably fentanyl, according to a report published this past June by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The fentanyl crisis has garnered plenty of attention during the 2024 election cycle among the Republican candidates.
Rajan Menon, director of the Grand Strategy Program at Defense Priorities, told Newsweek that the "staggering amount" of fentanyl infiltrating both the U.S. and China remains a concern for leaders trying to take proper measures that will disrupt trafficking.
"Time will tell whether they'll do it," Menon said. "The problem is if the Chinese went out 100 percent and the precursors [raw chemicals for making fentanyl] were shut out, there are so many fentanyl makers in the drug market. There is a demand, especially in wealthy countries, and dealers can lace drugs and it's primarily a problem among whites."
The impact of U.S. and Chinese governmental action on the fentanyl crisis won't be known for a while, he predicted.
In February 2020, during a meeting with governors across the U.S., former President Trump praised "maximum" penalties and executions for drug-related convicts in countries like China and Singapore. He sounded envious of countries that execute drug dealers after "fair but quick" trials, adding that he was unsure whether the U.S. was "ready" to follow such protocols.
In 2018, Trump spoke just as highly about death penalties for drug users and encouraged China to stiffen its laws to execute dealers and "pushers" responsible for the rise in the use of fentanyl, a drug 100 times more powerful than morphine.
"One of the very exciting things to come out of my meeting with President Xi of China is his promise to me to criminalize the sale of deadly fentanyl coming into the United States. It will now be considered a 'controlled substance,'" Trump said in December 2018.
He went on: "This could be a game changer on what is considered to be the worst and most dangerous, addictive and deadly substance of them all. Last year [2017], over 77,000 people died from fentanyl. If China cracks down on this horror drug, using the death penalty for distributors and pushers, the results will be incredible."
Even after leaving office, Trump has spoken about wanting to emulate Xi and China's policies toward drug producers.
During a July 2022 speech in Las Vegas, the former president said he asked Xi why his country doesn't have a drug problem. Trump said this was due to swift justice against dealers.
"If you look at countries all throughout the world...the only ones that don't have a drug problem are those that institute the death penalty for drug dealers. They're the only ones, you understand that? China has no drug problem," Trump said to applause.
China's drug problems have been disputed by various reports, including one published by the Brookings Institution, which documented an increase in drug use in China. The U.S. think tank's report said that "drug addiction does not receive much public sympathy or priority in government funding."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
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