Fact Check: At a press conference about an operation to remove Venezuela's president, President Trump repeated claims that conflict with public health data, local crime statistics and court decisions. His claim that every struck drug boat saves 25,000 American lives is not supported by CDC overdose figures or the number of strikes reported. He also misstated homicide trends in Washington, D.C., and overstated the National Guard’s impact and reach in Chicago and Los Angeles, where court rulings and mission limits constrained deployments.
Fact Check: Trump Overstates Drug-Boat Impact and National Guard Role in D.C., Chicago and L.A.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Overview: President Donald Trump used a news conference about a U.S. operation targeting Venezuela’s president to make several claims about drug interdiction and National Guard deployments in U.S. cities. Many of these statements are contradicted by public health data, local crime statistics and court rulings.
Claim: Each Struck Drug Boat Kills (Or Prevents) 25,000 People
“Each boat kills on average, 25,000 people.”
Why this is misleading: Trump has repeatedly framed U.S. strikes on vessels allegedly carrying drugs as preventing 25,000 American deaths per strike. That arithmetic does not match available evidence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest preliminary figures show up to 76,516 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during the 12-month period ending April 2025, down from up to 101,363 in the prior 12-month span.
The U.S. military has struck at least 35 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific since operations began on Sept. 2. Applying a flat 25,000 "lives saved" per strike would imply 875,000 lives averted — a total that exceeds recorded overdose deaths in recent 12-month periods and is inconsistent with how overdose mortality is measured. In short, the claim lacks a credible evidentiary basis.
Most overdose deaths involve opioids: opioids accounted for 73.4% of overdose deaths in 2024, with 65.1% attributable to illicitly manufactured fentanyls (CDC State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System). Much fentanyl entering the U.S. is trafficked overland from Mexico, where it is produced using precursor chemicals, while the maritime strikes have focused on Caribbean and eastern Pacific routes.
Claim: No Killings In Washington, D.C., Since Guard Deployment
“We haven't had a killing. ... But we haven't had a killing in a long period of time. Six, seven months.”
Why this is inaccurate: Metropolitan Police Department data show 59 homicides in the past seven months, including two in the most recent week. That total includes the Nov. 26 fatal shooting of a West Virginia National Guard member (another Guard member was injured), an incident being investigated as an act of terrorism by federal authorities.
The city recorded 126 homicides in 2025, 29 of which occurred after National Guard troops were deployed to Washington on Aug. 11. The administration declared a public safety emergency and said it intended to clear homeless encampments as part of its response; local officials note violent crime in the District reached multi-decade lows in 2024 and fell an additional 26% in 2025.
Claims About Chicago And Los Angeles Deployments
Chicago: National Guard units were not placed broadly on city streets while legal challenges were pending. A Justice Department lawyer told a court the Guard’s intended mission was to protect federal properties and personnel, not to "solve all of crime in Chicago." From 2020 to 2024, homicides in Chicago declined about 25%, while some crimes rose: reported rape increased 27%, robbery went up 17%, and aggravated assault rose 11%.
Los Angeles: The administration deployed roughly 4,000 National Guard members and about 700 Marines in June to protect federal buildings and later to support federal immigration enforcement. Troop levels declined over time; they were removed from street duties by Dec. 15 after a lower court ordered control returned to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. An appeals court briefly stayed part of that order, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit later directed the administration to restore state control of the Guard. The administration subsequently told the court it would not seek to pause that part of the order.
Bottom Line
Key assertions made by the president during the briefing — including the claim that each struck drug boat saves 25,000 lives and that Washington saw no killings after a Guard deployment — are contradicted or not supported by public-health data, local police statistics and court records. The roles and impacts of National Guard deployments in Chicago and Los Angeles were constrained by legal limits and judicial rulings.
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