- yesterday
President Trump signs the HALT Fentanyl Act into law at a bill-signing ceremony at the White House.
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00:00Thank you very much. Please. It's an honor to be with you. We're making a lot of progress in our
00:29country, generally, too. But this is a very special time because we've worked very hard to put ourselves in this position. Today we strike a righteous blow to the drug dealers, narcotic traffickers, and criminal cartels that we've all been hearing so much about for so many years and very little has been done. And we take a historic step toward justice for every family touched by the
00:59fentanyl scourge as we sign the HALT Fentanyl Act into law. Good job.
01:06Good job.
01:08Thank you very much. With this bill, we are officially and permanently classifying all fentanyl-related
01:28substances as Schedule I narcotics, which is actually a very big deal. It doesn't sound like much. It's a big deal, as they will tell you, meaning anyone caught trafficking these illicit poisons will be punished with a mandatory ten-year minimum sentence in prison.
01:49We'll be getting the drug dealers pushers and peddlers off our street. And we will not rest until we have ended the drug overdose epidemic. And it's been getting a little bit better, but it's horrible. It's horrible.
02:04We're going to end it once and for all. And we're pleased to be joined on this occasion by my future DEA administrator. You're going to be a very important position. Terry Cole. Where is Terry Cole? Hello, Terry Cole. I hope you're as good as they say, Terry.
02:21I hope you're as good as Glenn Youngkin says because it was his recommendation that got you this job. You better do a good job or I'm blaming Glenn. Glenn, I'm going to blame you if he's no good. And who the hell knows, but I have a feeling he's going to be great. Is he that good?
02:39All right, good. You better be good. But it was really Glenn has had tremendous experience with Terry, and he said he's fantastic. He did the job.
02:50He did the job like nobody that you've seen, and we take your word for it. Thank you very much, Glenn. Also with us is Secretary Kristi Noem, who's doing a fantastic job. Where's Kristi? Where are you?
03:04Kristi? Hi, Kristi.
03:08She is doing a great job with Tom Holman, who's fantastic. He's also central casting. He does serve the central casting role, too, doesn't he? And he's a great guy.
03:19Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Steve, thank you very much. Thank you. Good job. And we have some good news on Gaza and good news on a couple of things that we're working on at a very high level. But you've done a fantastic job. Thank you very much.
03:35Thank you very much. My nominee to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Sarah Carter. Sarah, great reporter, too.
03:42She was a very tough and good reporter. And you've done a fantastic job. So now you'll be able to put all that experience to work.
03:51No more criticizing or anything else. You've got to do it yourself, and you're going to do a great job. You know, as reporters do on occasion. Thank you very much. Thanks, Sarah. Good luck.
04:01Governors Glenn Youngkin, Jeff Landry, and Kelly Armstrong, where are you? Stand up. Great. Hi, fellas. Hi. How are you? And great friends of ours, Senators Chuck Grassley. Chuck, fantastic. You look fantastic. Looks like he's 44 years old. You look great, Chuck. We're proud of you. Jim Banks. Jim, thank you very much.
04:29Jim Banks. Jim. Thank you, Jim. Good job. Good job. Ron Johnson. Ron, good. We've got that bill passed, Ron. We got it passed. Thank you for all your help, too.
04:43Ashley Moody. Ashley, thank you very much. Jim Risch. Thank you, Jim. And you're doing a great job with the committees, and you're getting them through, the people that we need, right? I appreciate it, Jim, very much.
04:58I urge him. Jim, you've got to get going. No, Jim's been fantastic. Bill Cassidy. Thank you, Bill, very much. Thank you very much. And Roger Marshall. Roger, thank you.
05:13And, by the way, I have to say, John Thune called. He said, can you get my Senators back? We're taking a vote. So we're going to go as quickly as you can. And if you feel like the urge, just get out. And we've got to get all these bills signed, a lot of them related to what we're doing. So don't have the urge to stay. I won't be insulted if you walk out. But he just called. He said, could you get them back as soon as possible?
05:40Representatives Morgan Griffin, Brett Guthrie, Andy Biggs, Andy Barr, Buddy Carter, Addison McDowell, Troy Balderson. Hi. Hi, Troy. Randy Feenstra. Thanks. Thank you, Randy.
06:01Scott Franklin, Tony Gonzalez, John Joyce, Dan Muser, Mike Carey, Scott Fitzgerald, Diana
06:16Harshbarger, Bob Latta, that's a good group of people, Hal Rogers, Mike Rowley, and Nick
06:29Langworthy. Thank you. You've got a lot of great people. That's a lot of political talent we
06:36have. A lot of political talent. Thank you very much. Thanks as well to State Attorneys
06:42General Brenna Byrd. Thank you, Brenna, wherever you may be, because, you know, Brenna, she was
06:47the first one in that state to endorse Trump. Thank you very much. I don't forget those things,
06:52even though this is nonpolitical today, okay? Alan Wilson, Chris Carr, and Marty Jackley.
07:01Thank you all very much. Thank you. So, six months ago, we came into office and inherited
07:11the worst drug crisis in American history by far. They did nothing. For four long years,
07:18Joe Biden surrendered our borders to the most evil and vicious traffickers, networks, and
07:24everything else on the planet Earth, allowing foreign drug cartels to carve out a massive
07:30footprint on American soil, we were doing nothing. This open border's nightmare flooded our country
07:38with fentanyl and with people that shouldn't be here, some of the worst people on Earth.
07:44Illicit drugs decimated American communities and left us with the largest law enforcement
07:50challenge in our country's history and hopefully will always be the largest. I can't imagine
07:55anything being worse. They allowed millions and millions of criminals into our country, 11,888
08:03murderers, 50% of whom murdered more than one person. On day one of the Trump administration,
08:11we declared an all-out war on the dealers, smugglers, traffickers, and cartels. Within moments of
08:17taking office, I deployed the U.S. military to our border and unleashed the Patriots of ICE
08:23and Border Patrol to defend our country from an invasion. This was an invasion. This wasn't
08:29people coming in. This was an invasion of our country, allowed to happen by people either
08:34that didn't care or were just stupid people, stupid people. I also designated the Mexican drug cartels
08:44as foreign terrorist organizations.
08:46And within a few short weeks, believe it or not, if you remember, now we've even surpassed that,
09:04but we achieved the most secure border in U.S. history. And last month, we had the lowest number
09:09of illegal border crossings ever recorded. We had in June, the number was actually zero. Now, even I don't
09:16believe that, but we're going to take it. How can you go from hundreds of thousands to zero? But
09:21that's what they say. And these are very liberal, these are very liberal people that do the recording,
09:28so I think we're going to have to take it. But the number was zero in June. Can't get much better than
09:34that, right? On day one, I signed executive orders to create new homeland security task forces,
09:40marshalling the full power of federal law enforcement to eradicate transnational criminal networks and
09:48traffickers from our soil. We wanted them out. Two weeks ago, we secured the resources necessary to
09:54achieve that mission when I signed the one big, beautiful bill into law. And I want to thank you all.
10:02I want to thank you all. You did a great job. And you could go point after point how good it is,
10:14you know, to have just a hit against that. It's one of the great, biggest tax cuts in history,
10:21biggest, really the biggest everything in history, biggest. We have things in terms of security,
10:28in terms of securing our country, taking care of our police officers, law enforcement, our
10:34ice and border patrol patriots. I call them patriots because that's what they are. These are
10:39strong people, tough people that love our country. If they weren't tough, they wouldn't survive.
10:44But we do more for the country in that bill, I think, than just about any bill that's been passed.
10:50And we're going to have to start speaking about it because
10:54the Democrats use it. They say it represents death. How effective is that, right? That's pretty good.
11:00It represents that. That's all they have. They only have lies. It's the only thing they have. They don't
11:07have policy. They can't get people elected. They don't have good candidates. They don't have anything.
11:12But they do have two things. They stick together. They stick together like glue. And they always come up
11:20with a good little tagline. This tagline is death. You know, if the death is them,
11:25we're the ones that are giving life. We're giving life with that bill. And there's so many good things,
11:29whether it's no tax on tips. Think of that. No tax on social security. No tax on overtime.
11:37If you buy a car, you want to buy a car, you get a deduction of interest on your mortgage. Think of that.
11:43Things that were never even a possibility. And then so much else in terms of health,
11:49in terms of providing care. It's really just a fantastic bill. And it's about time that we're
11:56going to start and we'll start talking about it. But once we do, I think we're going to have the
12:00greatest midterm that you've ever seen because this thing really is amazing. And I want to thank
12:05all of the senators in particular for getting it done, for getting it done. It also makes the
12:14largest investment in the U.S. Coast Guard since World War II, ensuring that we have assets and all
12:20of the assets needed to vanquish the cartels from the waterways of North America. We're building a lot
12:26of Coast Guard ships that go very speedily along the water. And they're very lethal. They're very
12:32powerful. And that's what we need because a lot of it comes in as we block up the border. They start
12:37using the water. That's a good run. I could use that. They block up the border. We start using the
12:43water. And that's what happens. They start using the water. Who would think? They even actually
12:48developed small submarines. You saw that, right? Small submarines to get the drugs in. And
12:56it's incredible. But we've stopped them. I've also directed the Department of Justice to seek
13:02maximum sentences for fentanyl traffickers. We're going to absolutely do the maximum.
13:08Since my inauguration, the DOJ has seized over 4,500 pounds of fentanyl, which is a record,
13:14including with the enormous Sinaloa cartel bust in May, one of the toughest cartels out there,
13:22the largest fentanyl bust ever in United States history. And now, with the signing of the HALT
13:29fentanyl act, in just a few moments, we are delivering another defeat for the savage drug
13:34smugglers and criminals and the cartels who have a tremendous amount to say about Mexico. If you want
13:41to be nice about it, I'm trying to be nice about it. They have very strong controls over Mexico. We have
13:48to do something about that. Can't let that happen. The Mexican authorities are petrified. They're petrified to
13:56show up at their office. They're petrified to go to work because the cartels have cartels have a
14:02tremendous grip on Mexico and the politicians and the people that get elected. For years,
14:08the monsters who manufacture illicit fentanyl have sought to skirt legal restrictions by making minor
14:15variations of the chemical compound. And in the process, they've developed even more toxic versions of
14:21the drug. One common variant known as car fentanyl is becoming more and more common. It's 100 times more
14:33potent than the original version of fentanyl. Can you imagine? Look at what you have to suffer with
14:39the original. I mean, this is 100 times more potent. And it's happening stronger, stronger,
14:47more and more and more and more dangerous. And as you know, and I have a very good relationship with
14:53President Xi of China, but I imposed a 20 percent tariff on China because of the fentanyl. And I call
15:01it a penalty. It's a penalty because China delivers much of the fentanyl. Some people would say all of it.
15:08They deliver it into Mexico and even into our own country. We have a 20 percent. So they pay billions of
15:13dollars and billions of dollars and damages for what they've done. And I think we're going to work
15:20it out so that China is going to end up going from that to giving the death penalty to the people that
15:27create this fentanyl and send it into our country, whether it's through other countries or directly.
15:34I believe that we would have had that deal a long time ago. I shook hands with them and
15:39that we had a rigged election and we had somebody else come in and they didn't know anything about
15:45a deal for the death penalty. The death penalty is going to be imposed on people from China that make
15:52fentanyl and send it into our country. I believe that's going to happen soon. But as of today,
15:57all fentanyl related substances will be banned forever. And those who traffic in these deadly poisons
16:03will be put behind bars for a very long period of time. We're joined today by just a few of the
16:09millions of families ravaged by this scourge, including Greg Swan from Michigan, who carries
16:15with him the heartbreaking loss of his beautiful son, Drew. Drew became addicted to opioids after
16:22being prescribed painkillers following a sports injury, got injured, and this is happening so much,
16:28got injured in sports and ends up you leave the hospital a week later and you're addicted.
16:34But he fought through it and got himself clean. Then one day, Drew took a pill laced with fentanyl.
16:40He took it just casually, thought it would be okay, took a chance and he thought it'd be okay,
16:46and it didn't work out and he tragically lost his life. And Greg, I'd like you to come forward and
16:52if you could just say a few words about your wonderful, wonderful son, please.
16:58Thank you, Mr. President, honor of my life. Thank you very much. Thank you.
17:03Thank you so much, Mr. President. I will be brief. It's the honor of my life to be here. And Drew was
17:10the happiest day of my life was when he was born. And he always called me his hero to the day he died.
17:16And his passing ruined, I thought, my life and every parent back here that I meet. And in the
17:24audience, some of my friends, their life is gutted when they lose a kid. There's despair and there's
17:29hopelessness. But we've been able to find some repose in going out and advocating. And we want to hit
17:37every school in America. There's 26,727 of them. We want to go into every one. The kids are silent when
17:43they hear we lost somebody to this. And we tell our story and they leave unequivocally ready to run
17:49away from fentanyl. I would just like to say thank you, Mr. President, for stopping the border crossings.
17:56Full stop, mic drop.
18:08I'll step back and, but I just, it was amazing what you did. We were being gas lit and you came and lit
18:15a fire to that story. And we're a lot safer for it. Thank you so much.
18:18Thank you, man.
18:19Thank you so much.
18:23Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you.
18:27That's tough stuff.
18:31We're also grateful to be joined by California native Ann Fundner, who lost her beautiful eldest son,
18:39Weston to fentanyl when he was just 15 years old, exactly one year ago today. Ann delivered a moving
18:47tribute to Weston at the Republican National Convention. People that saw it have not forgotten
18:54it. And Ann, I'd like you to please come up and say a few words about your wonderful boy. Thank you.
19:01Please. Thank you, darling.
19:04Good afternoon, Mr. President and distinguished guests. My name is Ann Fundner.
19:17I'm going to hold that.
19:20And I'm an angel parent. One year ago today, on July 16th, I stood in front of America and told the story
19:28of my son Weston at the RNC. And about how he was a beautiful, loving, had a wonderful life. We did
19:38everything right. But one pill, one mistake given by a friend under peer pressure took his life. In the
19:47last four years, fentanyl became the number one killer of Americans, ages 15 to 48. And children under 14
19:56are the fastest growing demographic. President Trump, for four years, we felt ignored. But you've changed
20:04that. And we appreciate that so much. You've closed the borders, sanctioned cartels, imposed tariffs,
20:13closed shipping loopholes. Most people don't know about that. That was a big one. Dealt with countries
20:19where it's coming from. You mobilized Treasury, Justice Department, Homeland Security, lawmakers,
20:27legislators, and today the signing of the Fentanyl Act, bipartisan and overwhelmingly supported by
20:33everybody, making fentanyl a schedule when drug to strengthen the criminalization and prosecution
20:41of people who peddle this. It is a lifeline for families across America and keeping our families
20:50safe. And that's all you always want to keep America safe. And thank you so much. Thank you for
20:57keeping America safe and for our children. And this is what we voted for, Mr. President. God bless you.
21:04Thank you. God bless our angel families who are all here with us today and all of you sitting up here
21:11with us. And God bless America. Thank you so much.
21:14Thank you so much.
21:19You can have that. Would you like that?
21:20I would love to give that to you.
21:23Thank you very much. It's just crazy that we have to be doing this. It's so sad. It should be so
21:39unnecessary that we stand here for years and years doing the same thing over and over. It's terrible.
21:48A friend of mine, a long time friend of mine, Jackie Siegel and her beautiful children, her husband,
21:56David just passed away. David Siegel was a great developer, great, great developer, great guy,
22:01friend of mine. But her children, Jordan, Jacqueline and Drew come from Florida. Jackie lost her
22:10beautiful daughter Victoria to drugs when Victoria was just 18 years old, a beautiful person. And this
22:17April, Jackie lost her sister, Jessica to fentanyl. And her daughter's honor, Jackie founded Victoria's
22:24Voice. And I'd like to ask Jackie to come up and say a few words about her daughter, her husband,
22:31her family. She's comes from a great family and they've been fighting this scourge for a long time.
22:39Thank you very much, Jackie.
22:49Mr. President, it's an honor to be here today on behalf of our family, my late husband and all of
22:55the other affected families for this important signing on this bipartisan issue. Ten years ago,
23:04when our daughter, 18 years old, passed Victoria, if she was 18, she passed away of the drug overdose,
23:11we formed the Victoria's Voice Foundation. And the Trump administration was very helpful in passing
23:18the CARA Act, which saved many lives back then, bringing out the Narcan. And we're so honored.
23:27Oh, well, actually, after when my husband passed away, thank you for the phone call and your love and
23:33support. He, he, we, our family loves you, Mr. President. That, that day, my, when my sister found
23:43out of my husband's passing, she did a line of cocaine that she thought was cocaine and it was
23:49fentanyl. So I lost both of them in the same day. And it's been a very rough time. But we, um, it's,
23:59it's turned me into more of a fighter to carry on my husband's legacy and the other family's legacies
24:05of saving lives. And, um, so I'm turning my pain into passion. And also on top of this, with the signing
24:15of this important, um, the, uh, act that you're doing, we are, um, joining with Victoria's Voice
24:21is joining with founding fathers and we're going to start the Angel Army. So we're even growing
24:28even more under this Trump administration and we're going to spend the rest of our lives doing this.
24:34Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you.
24:36That army will be very effective knowing Jackie. So thank you very much, Jackie.
24:54Everyone knows someone touched by the incredible crisis that we've all been watching all over the
25:01world. They're watching it. Other countries have the problem. But I don't think there are too many
25:06that have it more seriously than us. They come here and they, they rip us, they rip us so badly,
25:11the cartels and all of the others, because we're sort of a rich country and that's where the money is.
25:20So it happens. People say, why is it so much? Because we have money. We're richer than other
25:26countries. So they come here more to take the money, like taking candy from a baby. So today,
25:32on behalf of all Americans who have lost a loved one to opioids, we renew our vow to liberate America from
25:40this horrible plague. And I hope you're going to do a fantastic job. You have no idea how important
25:46you are. You have like maybe the most important job just about in government. There's nothing more
25:53important than what you're doing. So I wish you a lot of luck and we'll be there to help you all the
25:56way along. Okay. Once again, I want to thank Congress for passing this important bill and for
26:03all the work you've done over the last two weeks. All of you, what a job you've all done. It's, uh,
26:09it was the congressmen and women and the Senate has been unbelievable. And I'd like to ask if you want,
26:16stand right up here while I sign the bill and then we're going to get you right back so you can keep
26:21passing other bills and make America great again. Right? Okay. Thank you very much. It's great to have you.
26:40And this is not an auto pen, right? That's for sure. That's great. Thank you very much.
27:10Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
27:16Thank you very much, everybody.
27:41This is really an honor.
27:43Very important.
27:44One of the more important things that we'll ever sign,
27:46I suspect.
27:47And thank you all for the great job.
27:50Thank you very much, everybody.
28:17Thank you very much.
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