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Over the weekend, Donald Trump shocked reporters with a claim that left everyone scratching their heads. While defending a U.S. military strike on a Venezuelan boat suspected of carrying drugs, he told reporters that 300 million people died from drugs last year.
For context, the U.S. population is around 340 million. If Trump’s numbers were true, nearly the entire country would have been wiped out by drugs in just one year. Even if he meant worldwide deaths, the number is still way off. According to the World Health Organisation, global drug-related deaths are about 600,000, a tiny fraction of the 300 million he claimed.
The strike Trump was defending killed 11 people. Venezuela denies that those on the boat were gang members. When asked if the strike was illegal, Trump responded by pointing to the drugs on the boat and repeating his impossible statistic.
Online, people were quick to call out the absurdity of his claim. On X, one user wrote, “Trump pulls numbers out of his butt like a magic proctologist.” Another said, “How can even his MAGA supporters not realise he has lost the plot?” A third added, “Time to take Grandpa’s keys away.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has been caught making wildly inaccurate statements. From claiming Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Ohio to other fabricated statistics, the pattern is clear: he often throws out shocking numbers without any factual basis. The dangerous part is that some people still accept these statements as truth without question.
Trump’s latest claim is yet another example of a mental slip that has critics questioning his ability to lead the country responsibly.