Donald Trump raised eyebrows with a confusing claim while defending a recent military strike against alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers. He announced that US forces had conducted a successful attack on a vessel carrying narcotics in international waters, killing 11 “terrorists” linked to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
During an interview on Fox News, Trump defended the operation and shockingly claimed that “300 million people died last year from drugs,” a figure that nearly equals the entire US population. This statement baffled many, as official data estimates the US population to be around 340 million and recorded about 75,000 overdose deaths in the 12 months ending March 2025—a significant decline from previous years.
Even if Trump’s claim was global, the numbers don’t align; the WHO recently reported 600,000 annual deaths worldwide due to drug use. Many took to social media to mock Trump’s apparent mathematical error, joking about the impossibility of such figures.
Critics highlighted that Trump’s numbers are off by a huge margin, pointing out that overdose deaths remain a serious issue but nowhere near the exaggerated claim made. Government data shows a decline in overdoses in recent times, contradicting Trump’s statements.
This incident highlights how inaccurate data can cause confusion and ridicule, emphasizing the importance of relying on verified statistics for policy discussions and public communication.
