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President Trump Says Drugs Coming In by Sea Are Down 97 Percent, Fentanyl Down 64 Percent

October 16, 2026 · Office of National Drug Control Policy · 0:01:38

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

In a short White House clip published by the Office of National Drug Control Policy on October 16, 2026, President Donald Trump said drugs coming into the United States by sea are “down 97%,” according to his remarks. Trump contrasted the current approach with past practice, saying traffickers who were interdicted used to be brought to court in Miami or Texas and released quickly, then returned on the next boat, as stated in his remarks.

Trump also said fentanyl is down 64%, that the administration has “hit them hard,” and that it has not yet moved on land routes “to full blast,” though he said that effort is starting, according to his remarks. He said the administration is working with Mexico but repeated his claim that “the cartels run Mexico,” telling reporters he has said this to Mexico’s president directly, as stated in the clip.

Why it matters

The clip is the administration’s own summary of its maritime drug-interdiction campaign, built around two specific percentage claims — 97% by sea and 64% for fentanyl — that define how the White House wants the policy judged.

Scoreboard watch

Trump’s figures — drugs by sea down 97% and fentanyl down 64% — are specific, checkable claims the scoreboard editor can test against interdiction and seizure data as it is published.

Sources: Office of National Drug Control Policy, ‘“Drugs coming in by sea and by ocean, are down by 97%” - President Trump’, 2026-10-16 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-10-16). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.