Trump Incorrectly Claims 300 Million People Died of Drug Overdoses Last Year

President Donald Trump has attributed a U.S. military strike on a Venezuelan vessel to a drug overdose epidemic — but his numbers aren’t adding up.

The president was speaking with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Airport on Sunday, Sept. 14, when he addressed the killing of 11 people on the vessel that was departing from Venezuela, allegedly carrying illegal narcotics, on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior minister, condemned the military strike as “a murder committed against a group of citizens using lethal force” on state television, Newsweek reported.

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According to Cabello, per Newsweek, local investigations found that none of the 11 killed were members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang or drug traffickers. There was a second strike on Monday, Sept. 14, according to Trump’s post on Truthsocial.

While speaking with reporters on Sunday, a reporter asked Trump if he was concerned that the president of Venezuela called the U.S. military strike on the Venezuelan vessel earlier this month “illegal.”

“No,” he said. “What’s illegal are the drugs that were on the boat and the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs. That’s what’s illegal.”

The U.S. Census Bureau reported there were roughly 340 million people in the U.S. in 2024, which would have meant that more than two-thirds of the country’s population would have died if the president were correct.

The estimated number of deaths for the world for the year 2024 was actually 62.4 million, based on the latest World Population Prospects report. PEOPLE confirmed this estimate with a United Nations staffer.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai, however, told PEOPLE in a statement that “the President is right.”

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“Millions of Americans are affected each year by the scourge of deadly drugs taking their friends, community members, and loved ones far too soon,” the statement said.