President Donald Trump took stern measures against Canada, China and Mexico on February 1, partly to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States. In addition to imposing tariffs on all three nations, previous threats suggest he plans to focus on Mexico in his fight against drugs.

America’s supply of illicit drugs flows largely through its southern border. Organized crime groups control about one third of Mexico. Sinaloa, a cartel in northwestern Mexico, is believed to be the largest smuggler of fentanyl into the U.S. Most of America’s cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine also comes through Mexico. Because of this, Trump pledged to:

• Deploy all necessary military assets, including the U.S. Navy, to impose a full naval embargo on the [Mexican drug] cartels …
• Order the Department of Defense to make appropriate use of special forces, cyberwarfare and other overt and covert actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure and operations
• Designate the major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
• Cut off the cartels’ access to the global financial system ….

After Trump’s election, a senior member of his transition team said the question now is: “How much should we invade Mexico?”

President Trump paused these tariffs for a month on February 3 because Mexico deployed 10,000 soldiers to its border with the U.S. to slow drug trafficking, but this does not mean he won’t follow through on his threats if needed.

He has reportedly considered multiple military plans to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S., including a soft invasion aimed at killing cartel leaders, drone and air strikes on cartel infrastructure and labs, cyberwarfare on drug lords, and sending military trainers to Mexico. His ambassador to Mexico, Ron Johnson, is expected to “be a de facto part of Mexico’s security cabinet,” according to security analyst Eduardo Guerrero. Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the president even considered ordering missile strikes on Mexican drug labs during his first four-year term. President Trump reportedly regrets missing opportunities to deal with this problem then.

But now he is back, with more support than he has ever had.

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he supports it “in coordination with the armed forces and the Mexican police force.”
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this may be in America’s national interest: “If it takes military action, that’s what it may take, eventually.”
• Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who sent troops to the southern border when she was governor of South Dakota, said: “[T]he United States of America is in a time of invasion …. The 50 states have a common enemy—that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels that are waging war against our nation.”
• National Security Advisor Mike Waltz co-introduced legislation while in Congress that would authorize military force against Mexican cartels.
• Some polls even say most Mexicans, especially those in Mexico’s most violent areas, would support Mr. Trump sending in soldiers to stop the violence.

President Trump is right that drastic measures must be taken to solve America’s drug problem. Illicit fentanyl caused around 76,000 overdose deaths in 2023—more than any other drug—according to U.S. government stats. At the time, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas deemed the crisis the “single greatest challenge we face as a country.”

Closing the border will stop many smugglers, and if Trump orders the assassinations of cartel leaders, the infighting that follows would slow drug exports.

But action against Mexico, Canada and China will be insufficient to end the problem because America is so heavily addicted. The ugly truth is that the U.S. fuels the cartels’ business and is the main source of Mexico’s cartel violence.

The illegal drug industry in the U.S. is an estimated $200 billion to $750 billion business. In 2024, about 7 percent of Americans used illicit drugs regularly—more than in any other country. The year prior, 16.7 percent of Americans 12 or older battled a substance use disorder, according to the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Illegal fentanyl trafficking has increased 950 percent in America since 2017.

History predicts Mr. Trump’s efforts will fail. Even if China slows its injection of precursor chemicals into Mexico and Mexico cracks down on its cartels, the nation is so corrupt that many arrested criminals will likely find themselves back on the street. A 2024 report by the New York Times found that “criminal groups fully or partly control well over half of Mexico’s 285 prisons.” Combined with the fact that it only takes about $3,600 and a web browser to make $3 million worth of fentanyl (using a conservative estimate), it seems Trump is doomed to fail.

America’s illicit drug problem will not end until Americans stop buying drugs.

The Bible reveals that many of the problems plaguing America, including its drug addiction, are spiritual at their core. Applying purely physical solutions will only alleviate the drug problem so much. But this problem can and will be solved.

Much of Bible prophecy is for the U.S., which descends from biblical Israel. (Read our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.) The U.S. is experiencing curses because it has refused to turn to God. God warned, for example, that America would be hurt by foreigners if it forsook Him (Isaiah 1:7).

But God is very merciful. He prophesied that Trump would regain power and lead an American resurgence. But this resurgence will only be temporary if America doesn’t turn back to God. This is America’s last chance to turn back to God before curses destroy it.

Human attempts to solve this crisis will fail. This problem is too big for President Trump: Only God can solve it. The only way Trump can save America from curses is by turning back to God in nationwide repentance.

To prove this for yourself, read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s booklet Great Again.