President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law, which permanently schedules fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs.
Trump held a signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House, which some 200 people attended, including everyday Americans who have lost a loved one to fentanyl poisoning.
Before signing the legislation that makes permanent the Schedule 1 listing for fentanyl-related substances under the Controlled Substances Act, Trump spoke to those in attendance. Those who had lost a loved one to fentanyl stood behind him, holding up pictures of their fallen family member or friend.
Trump said to a 17-second round of applause:
Today, we strike a righteous blow to the drug dealers, narcotic traffickers and criminal cartels that we’ve all been hearing so much about for so many years … and we take a historic step toward justice for every family touched by the fentanyl scourge as we saw in the halt fentanyl Act into law.
Trump blasted former President Joe Biden for the “open borders nightmare” that “flooded our country with fentanyl” and illegal aliens, and he highlighted the many steps he has taken to secure the border since taking office.
“On day one of the Trump administration, we declared an all-out war on the dealers, smugglers, traffickers, and cartels,” Trump said.
He noted that since he has returned to office, the Department of Justice has seized over 4,500 pounds of fentanyl, which he said was “a record.”
Trump invited several parents who have lost their children to fentanyl or drug poisonings to share their stories at the podium.
Gregory Swan, whose son Drew was killed by fentanyl poisoning, said, “It’s the honor of my life to be here,” and the “happiest day of my life” was when Drew was born, as he held his son’s photo for the world to see. He went on:
His passing ruined, I thought, my life, and every parent back here that I meet and in the audience, some of my friends, their life is gutted when they lose a kid–there’s despair and there’s hopelessness–but we’ve been able to find some repose in going out and advocating.
Swan added, before commending Trump on halting border crossings:
And we want to hit every school in America. There’s 26,727 of them. We want to go into everyone. The kids are silent when they hear we lost somebody to this, and we tell our story, and they leave unequivocally ready to run away from fentanyl,” Swan added, before commending Trump on halting border crossings.
Annne Fundner, who lost her 15-year-old son Weston to a fentanyl poisoning in February 2022, spoke after Swan. Fundner previously noted that under peer pressure, Weston ingested a substance, which he believed to be something other than fentanyl. His father discovered him unresponsive the next day.
As Fundner began to deliver her remarks, she went to set down Weston’s photo on the podium, but Trump quickly grabbed it and displayed it for all to see.
“President Trump, for four years, we felt ignored, but you’ve changed that. We appreciate that so much,” Fundner said with noticeable emotion in her voice.
Fundner, along with other Angel Moms, in September, told reporters that they had never heard from former Vice President Kamala Harris regarding the tragedies that had befallen their families. When asked by – News at the time what she would say to Harris if she had the chance, she said she would have told Harris, “She is too late.”
Fundner on Wednesday highlighted the many ways Trump has attacked the fentanyl and border crisis:
You’ve closed the borders, sanctioned cartels, imposed tariffs, closed shipping loopholes–most people don’t know about that, that was a big one–dealt with countries where it’s coming from. You mobilized Treasury, Justice Department, Homeland Security, lawmakers, legislators, and today, the signing of the HALT Fentanyl act, bipartisan and overwhelmingly supported by everybody, making fentanyl a schedule I drug to strengthen the criminalization and prosecution of people who peddle this. It is a life line for families across America and keeping our families safe.
Jacqueline Siegel, another Angel Mom who lost her 18-year-old daughter Victoria to a drug overdose in 2015 and her sister to a fentanyl overdose this year, spoke as well. Siegel, who founded Victoria’s Voice, shared the heartbreaking story of her daughter. She also shared that her sister died of a fentanyl poisoning on the very day her husband, businessman David Siegel, who had been living with cancer, passed away in April 2025.
“That day, when my sister found out of my husband’s passing, she did a line of cocaine that she thought was cocaine, and it was fentanyl. So I lost both of them in the same day, and it’s been a very rough time,” she said.
“It’s turned me into more of a fighter to carry on my husband’s legacy and the other family’s legacies of saving lives, and so I’m turning my pain into passion,” she said.
