The Washington Post is facing sharp criticism from White House officials and conservative leaders following the publication of an article questioning the recent significant drop in fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The article, titled “The mysterious drop in fentanyl seizures on the U.S.-Mexico border,” by Mary Beth Sheridan, suggested that the decline is “mysterious” despite increased enforcement efforts.
The Post’s article highlighted U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data showing a substantial decrease in monthly fentanyl seizures. In 2024, monthly seizures averaged 1,700 pounds, a figure that has plummeted to just 746 pounds so far in 2025.
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Sheridan’s piece posed the question of why seizures would be down when the Trump administration has deployed thousands of troops and expanded drone flights along the border, stating, “With more boots on the ground, you’d think seizures would go up — not down.”
The White House, however, vehemently rejected the article’s premise, attributing the decline directly to the Trump administration’s border security policies. A White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, in a statement to Breitbart News, asserted, “The drop in fentanyl seizures at the border is only a mystery to Washington Post reporters suffering from Trump-Derangement Syndrome. Everyone else knows the simple truth: President Trump closed our border to illegal drug traffickers and Americans are safer because of it.”
Jackson further emphasized that by March 2025, fentanyl trafficking at the southern border had decreased by over half compared to March 2024, a direct result, she stated, of the administration’s stringent border measures. These measures include deploying active-duty military personnel, enhancing surveillance, and implementing stricter enforcement.
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White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung echoed this sentiment on X, stating, “The Washington ComPost clearly suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome. They can’t stand that President Trump’s strong border policies have led to a DECREASE in fentanyl coming into the U.S.” White House Communications Director Karoline Leavitt also publicly called the newspaper “pathetic.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) joined the chorus of criticism, stating on its official X account, “It’s no mystery. On day one, [President] Trump closed our borders to drug traffickers. From March 2024 to March 2025, fentanyl traffic at the southern border fell by 54%. The world has heard the message loud and clear.”
CBP data further supports the administration’s claims, indicating a 95 percent reduction in illegal border crossings from April 2024 to April 2025.
The White House and other officials contend that the decrease in seizures is not a mystery but rather a clear indication of successful deterrence.
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They argue that fortified border infrastructure and a clear enforcement policy have prompted criminal organizations to reduce their attempts to cross the border, thereby leading to lower interdiction figures.
The Washington Post’s article, which did not include statements from DHS, CBP, or White House officials defending the administration’s efforts, comes amidst ongoing national concern over the impact of fentanyl, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually in the United States.
Administration officials maintain that they will continue to uphold a high operational tempo at the border to prevent any resurgence in smuggling attempts, citing the current data as irrefutable evidence of effective enforcement.
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