Trump Administration Makes Faith Central in Strategy to Combat Illicit Drugs  

EXCLUSIVE: Rick Scott Aims to Reform Social Security in New Bill

Jury Finds Meta and Google Liable in Social Media Addiction Trial

‘Precisely the Problem’: Immigration Advocates Want Asylum Hearings Scheduled ‘Years’ Ahead

  PoliticsSecuritySocietyNews

Democrats Are Back to ‘Defund the Police,’ GOP Leadership Claims

Tom Homan Knows Why Democrats Want to Keep DHS Shut Down

‘I Made a Promise to God’: Christian Nonprofit Supports TSA Agents During Shutdown

‘Very Personal’: GOP Pushing for Dalilah’s Law Vote on House Floor Soon

A Diplomatic Gesture or Something Else: Examining the Temporary Lull in Chinese Military Activity Around Taiwan

Congressman Asks Trump to Press China to Release Prisoners

Decoupling From China on Critical Minerals Must Be a National Security Priority

  PoliticsSecurityNews

Weaponized Immigration Methods Aimed at America

EXCLUSIVE: Rick Scott Aims to Reform Social Security in New Bill

EXCLUSIVE: Poll Finds Virginia Voters Reject Democrats’ Redistricting Push

  PoliticsSecuritySocietyNews

Democrats Are Back to ‘Defund the Police,’ GOP Leadership Claims

Vance Anti-Fraud Effort Adds Major Enforcer

Trump Tells Senators to Pass the SAVE America Act ‘for Jesus’ 

Justices Skeptical of Counting Late-Arriving Ballots

Talking, Nuking, or Voting on the Filibuster: Where Does GOP Senate Infighting Go From Here?

SAVE America Act Will Make Absentee Ballots Great Again

Citing ‘Echo Chamber’ on Iran, Trump Counterterrorism Chief Resigns

International Commentary

‘It’s a Very Surreal War’

Netanyahu Refutes Death Rumor With Coffee Run

Hegseth: Iran’s Leader ‘Wounded and Likely Disfigured’

Girl Boss vs. Trad Wife: Forced to Choose?

Beyond the Oyster Fork: An Etiquette Expert’s Tips for ‘Relationships, Work, and Life’

Is the Iran Operation ‘America First’?

 International Commentary

Russia Operating ‘Systematic Child Abduction Operation,’ EU Ambassador Says

Victor Davis Hanson: The New Democratic Party

While Some Allies Hesitate, Israel Is Already in the Fight Against Iran

Victor Davis Hanson: Why Kristi Noem Failed at DHS

Victor Davis Hanson: Newsom’s Rocky Month Shows the Risks of Running on Style Over Substance

Trump Administration Makes Faith Central in Strategy to Combat Illicit Drugs  

Virginia Allen / @Virginia_Allen5

Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of "The Daily Signal Podcast" and "Problematic Women." Send an email to Virginia.

Faith is a central part of the Trump administration’s national drug control strategy set to be unveiled in May, according to U.S. drug czar Sara Carter.

“We’re working with churches, with faith-based communities, with faith-based networks that operate and have already worked with so many of their parishioners in recovery programs,” Carter told The Daily Signal during an exclusive interview in her D.C. office.

“Why wouldn’t we be working with our faith-based communities to do this outreach, to really bring treatment, recovery and faith as one?”

The Trump administration’s policy to combat drugs is twofold, she said, focusing both on cracking down on the supply chains bringing illegal drugs into the United States and on domestic demand.

Carter believes that working with faith communities is important to “change the culture of America” and decrease the demand for drugs, especially among young people.

“For the first time, we have brought faith to the center of our strategy,” said Carter, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

This week, Carter had her “first major meeting” with faith leaders to discuss ideas for tackling the drug crisis in America that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives over the past decade.

Carter was confirmed as drug czar in January and, before joining the Trump administration, spent much of her career working as an investigative journalist covering border and immigration issues.

On the supply side, Carter is working alongside members of the Trump administration to crack down on illicit drugs entering the U.S.

“We’re seeing a significant decrease, not only in human trafficking, but in narcotics. And we are sending a message with kinetic strikes,” Carter said, referring to more than 40 strikes executed on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Drug overdose deaths, largely driven by fentanyl, peaked in 2022, exceeding 110,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Customs and Border Protection has seen a decline in the amount of fentanyl being trafficked into the U.S. in the past two years, falling from 27,000 pounds in fiscal year 2023 to just under 22,000 pounds in 2024 and down to 12,000 pounds in fiscal year 2025.

Fentanyl has played a large role in drug poisonings and overdoses in the last decade. In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced fentanyl was the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18-45.

The precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl originate in China and are shipped to the cartels in South and Central America. China has pledged to crack down on the precursor chemicals, and Carter warns there will be consequences if they fail to follow through.

“If we have precursor chemicals in those supply chains and they are being sent into our hemisphere to be utilized by the cartels, there is going to be a price to be paid, and the president has been very clear with China, very clear with others, and I’ve been very clear: We are no longer going to take that,” she said.

“China knows exactly what I am expecting,” Carter continued. “There is no mystery behind this. We want it out of our supply chain. Get the precursors out of our supply chain, ensure the security of the world community, as well as the American people.”

The drug czar stressed that she wants this work to combat illicit drugs to outlast this administration and protect future generations from the threat of addiction and overdose deaths.

“You know our job is to fight back and to fight for our children,” Carter said. “And our children need to know … that we love them enough to stand up for them and fight for them.”

EXCLUSIVE: Drug Czar and Social Media Platforms Join Forces to Combat Illicit Drugs

Trump’s Argument for Why US ‘Needs’ Greenland

12-Question Quiz: What ‘Fascist’ ‘Xenophobe’ ‘Tyrant’ Said This?

Read the first chapter of The Woketopus right now for FREE

Today, even with President Trump’s victory, leftist elites have their tentacles in every aspect of our government.

The Daily Signal’s own Tyler O’Neil exposes this leftist cabal in his new book, The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.

In this book, O’Neil reveals how the Left’s NGO apparatus pursues its woke agenda, maneuvering like an octopus by circumventing Congress and entrenching its interests in the federal government.

You can read the first chapter of this new book for FREE in this eBook, The Woketopus: Chapter One using the secure link below.

The Tony Kinnett Cast

The Daily Signal Podcast

© 2025 The Daily Signal Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

We use cookies on our website. By using our website, you consent to cookies.  Learn More .  

© The Daily Signal