EXCLUSIVE: Fentanyl deaths plunge 22% as Trump White House touts crackdown on deadly drug crisis

EXCLUSIVE: Fentanyl-linked deaths plunged 22% in a single year as the Trump White House credits its border crackdown, campaign against drug cartels and arrests of convicted fentanyl traffickers for helping drive down the deadly toll. Synthetic opioid deaths , which include fentanyl, fell from 48,913 in 2024 to 38,084 in 2025, according to CDC figures cited by the White House — a decline of more than 10,000 deaths. Total drug overdose deaths fell 14% during the same period, from 81,313 to 69,973.