President Donald Trump signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law on Wednesday during an emotional White House ceremony flanked by Angel Parents—mothers and fathers who lost children to the deadly drug.
“We will not rest until we’ve ended the drug overdose epidemic,” Trump declared in the East Room, vowing to get drug dealers “off our streets” and praising the bill as a “historic step toward justice for every family touched by the fentanyl scourge.”
The bipartisan legislation permanently classifies fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, closing a dangerous legal loophole that allowed chemically altered knockoff versions of fentanyl to evade prosecution. Without Trump’s action, the prior classification was set to expire at the end of the month.
According to a White House briefing document, the law ensures “anyone who possesses, imports, distributes, or manufactures any illicit FRS will be subject to criminal prosecution in the same manner as any other Schedule I controlled substance.”
“First, we close the loopholes criminals use to skirt around the law,” the document states. “Second, we make it easier for law enforcement to prosecute those criminals.”
The legislation fulfills key campaign promises from Trump, who has made ending the fentanyl crisis and securing the border central themes of his second term.
“For four years, Joe Biden and Democrats hardly muttered a word about the fentanyl crisis, which remains the number one leading cause of death in our country,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “President Trump has made securing the border and ending the drug crisis a top priority, and today, he delivers again—for the fentanyl moms and dads who elected him to Make America Safe Again.”
Trump was joined by a number of allies closely aligned with his border and drug enforcement agenda, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff, Senators Chuck Grassley and Jim Banks, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, and Fox News contributor Sara Carter. Speaker Mike Johnson also attended the event.
In a poignant moment, Trump invited several Angel Parents to speak. One grieving father whose son, Drew, died from fentanyl poisoning directly thanked the president for his crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for stopping the border crossings. Full stop,” he said. “We were being gaslit. You came and lit a fire to that story, and we’re a lot safer for it.”
The law not only delivers a policy win for the Trump administration but reinforces its aggressive stance against open borders and weak drug enforcement. With this move, the White House is once again aligning law and order with compassion—showing victims’ families that their voices are being heard and their losses are not in vain.