Overview

• Pam Bondi claimed during a Cabinet meeting that Trump administration fentanyl seizures saved 258 million lives, a figure equating to 75% of the U.S. population.
• The claim, which doubled from her earlier estimate of 119 million lives saved, has been mocked for its mathematical implausibility and lack of supporting evidence.
• Experts and commentators have pointed out that the total U.S. population and actual overdose statistics make such claims impossible to substantiate.
• The DEA confirmed the seizure of 22.2 million fentanyl pills but did not corroborate Bondi's lives-saved calculations, which rely on hypothetical lethal dose metrics.
• Critics warn that exaggerating enforcement statistics undermines public understanding of the opioid crisis and distracts from evidence-based solutions.