President Trump Without Truth Serum 

Separating political fiction from measurable reality.

Lying is the new truth

U.S President Donald Trump has a bad habit. He continually forgets or avoids taking his daily dose of truth serum, which has been prescribed by Doctor Oz, star of the Dr. Oz TV show. This lapse in medication causes him to continually lie, no matter how much he rehearses telling the truth in front of a mirror. Pathological lying is known in psychological circles as pseudologia fantastica. His lying is reinforced by fellow Republicans who are enthralled with fantastica. Even Vice President J.D Vance has announced to the world that ‘there’s a new sheriff in town’. 

The President, in the last few weeks, has alerted the nation to genocide against Christians in Nigeria, and Whites in South Africa. He urged global leaders to boycott the G20 economic summit in South Africa over what he called ‘white genocide’. President Trump, unfortunately, forgot to take his truth serum because there is no evidence of genocide; and the Nigerian government has said that it doesn’t appreciate the fabrication. They have requested that President Trump ‘please stay home’, and out of Nigeria. 

To his credit, he played a role in arranging a ‘cease fire’ deal between Israel and Palestine.  A slight problem has arisen though: Israel, during the so-called cease fire, has killed over 133 Palestinians and destroyed more infrastructure throughout Gaza. It’s not easy to destroy what you have already destroyed once before. The International Criminal Court, in addition, has charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel with genocide, for real. 

On President Trump’s third day without medication, he began to find terrorism and chaos in America’s cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland. This was so concerning to him that he deployed the National Guard and Federal troops to restore order, in spite of rejection by local mayors and governors. In Portland, the media featured the true urgency of the situation when locals, wearing dinosaur and unicorn costumes, began to protest in front of the ICE building. 

Protests really got out of hand when one of the unicorn’s in costume bumped into a serious looking policeman. The policeman, without concern for negative publicity,  put a live smoke bomb canister in the butt of the obstreperous dinosaur. It was a ‘smoking hot’ moment. Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security,  joined the Federal snipers four floors up on the roof to ensure everyone’s safety. She returned to Washington to report the status and seriousness of the matter to President Trump. 

Drugs are a ruse for a power grab

President Trump, after ten days without medication, began selling his war on drugs to the American people by accusing President Petro of Colombia and Maduro of Venezuela of flooding America’s streets with illicit drugs that are killing Americans. The war on drugs was first signed into law by former President Richard Nixon on January  28, 1972. 

Interestingly, the most recent U.S. government report available on illicit drugs contains lots of claims on the evils of Colombia and Venezuela, but contains no hard data – no locations, statistics, monetary figures, market assessments by type of drug, travel routes, or points of entry into the U.S*. It reads like a high school paper cobbled together from a web search or Chat GPT. It is overwhelmingly vacuous. 

It’s as if President Trump, and Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of War, are on a co-journey of ‘fantastica’. Yet, the reality is that they have ordered and sanctioned 19 U.S. strikes on civilian vessels, killing at least 76 civilians in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. No hard evidence is offered regarding the actual role of individuals assassinated or boats used for supposed drug transport. The daughter of one survivor of a boat blown up said, “my father has used drugs in the past but gave them up to become a fisherman”. He was actually working to save money for his daughter’s education. That byline is missing from the mainstream U.S. media. 

When asked about evidence, Mr. Hegseth simply said he can’t provide it due to “security reasons”. President Trump, when asked about his authority to blow up civilian boats and kill individuals, says he doesn’t need anyone’s approval.  After all, survivors and interdicted boats only complicate matters. President Trump has now moved a U.S. aircraft carrier off the coast of Venezuela to protect Americans from drugs.  

Mr. Brad Little, the current Republican governor of Idaho, has joined the party. He has made illicit drugs, particularly fentanyl, a cornerstone of his get-tough policies. He has announced that President Trump “only wants to protect Americans,” and “if people in Idaho want legal marijuana, they elected the wrong guy as governor.” He is a strong supporter of National Fentanyl Awareness Day. 

In truth, based on data gathered over several years, and prior to President Trump’s administration, there is no proof that the real drug that kills Americans, fentanyl, is manufactured or trafficked from Venezuela or anywhere else in South America*. The Colombian government has cooperated with the U.S. and produced almost no evidence of production of fentanyl, except some small amounts stolen from a local hospital.  In fact, there have been complaints from local doctors in Colombia that ‘gringos’ are transporting fentanyl from the U.S., particularly Texas, into Colombia. 

On the cocaine front, the overwhelming majority, 74%, is in transit from the Pacific not the Caribbean. Deeper research, based on more data, estimates that a maximum of 20% comes from the entire Caribbean region, and only a small portion of that departs Venezuela’s Caribbean Coast. 

In addition, the actual number of deaths from all illicit drugs has fallen significantly since 2023; for example, deaths involving fentanyl have dropped from 79,000 to 48,000 in 2024. President Trump, and his Republican friends, had little or nothing to do with this decline*. 

Real issues not lies

The real illicit drug issues are centered on demand. Money spent on illicit drugs in the U.S. in 2024 is estimated at $150 to $200 billion annually. According to the U.S. government, the total societal impact is estimated at $2.7 trillion; however, according to an NGO on national drug abuse statistics, the societal cost is closer $800 billion*.  While it’s difficult to tell how much has been inflated for political purposes, one thing is certain: consumption of illicit drugs in the U.S. is ubiquitous. It’s party time for some, and hell for others. 

The Federal budget for drug control, for instance, was $44.5 billion in 2025. Yet, based on self-reports, over 70 million Americans 12 and over report using illegal drugs or misused prescription drugs within the last year*. This is especially true among individuals 18 to 25 years, 39% of whom reported illicit drug use. 

Incarceration for drugs is big business in the U.S. There are 61,829 inmates incarcerated for drug offenses in Federal prisons, making up 43% of the population, and 253,300 in State prisons representing 13% of the prison population, and 14% of the local jail population is in the slammer for drug related offenses. The average annual cost to imprison one federal inmate is approximately $36 to $44,000, depending on facility.* 

The type of drug imbibed depends on individual need, price, availability and social trends. For example, the use of hallucinogens has shown significant growth over the last five years with over 10 million people reported using them last year.* It’s a booming business. 

Opioid use was reported by roughly 8 million people, representing the largest share of deaths due to drugs, 76%, of which are fentanyl based and made in a laboratory. The approximately 79,000 deaths caused by fentanyl at its peak was roughly three times greater than cocaine, and fifteen times greater than heroin. 

When fantasy becomes federal strategy

Destabilizing Colombia and Venezuela under the auspices of ‘protecting Americans from illicit drugs’ is a data-less fabrication and a clear indication that President Trump and the Republican party are not taking their truth serum. Their claims about drugs are misleading, to say the least. Blowing up boats and killing civilians may seem heroic to those in power, but it belies the fact that according to international law extrajudicial killings are illegal.  Violations of international law, however, doesn’t seem to disturb anyone in the Trump administration. 

After all the misrepresentation, faulty analysis and violence caused by the new sheriff and his deputies, tens of millions of Americans will continue to seek altered states of consciousness, get stoned, hallucinate, shoot up, and/or comatose for real or fun every day. If Americans would stop using illicit drugs or reduce their consumption, countries would stop selling them into the U.S. 

It’s time for President Trump and Republicans to take their truth serum and deal with real issues, real data and real solutions to a long lived problem. Drugs might be a symptom of a social system that’s failing its citizens. Without real analysis, we’ll never know even an approximation to the truth. One thing is for certain, invading Venezuela or isolating Colombia or blowing up boats illegally will not solve the problem. It’s a ruse for a power grab. 

* Rand corporation, 2019

* UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2024

* NCDAS: Substance Abuse and Addiction Statistics 2025

* U.S. Department of State, Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Drug   Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2026 

* Mass incarceration: The whole Pie 2025—the Prison Policy Initiative