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 it fails 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.”
