Does each boat strike off the coast of Venezuela save 25,000 US lives?

Venezuela's Coast, US Lives, and a Web of Deceit: Can One Boat Really Save 25,000 American Lives?

President Donald Trump recently made headlines with his bold claim that the US military strikes on five Venezuelan boats have saved "at least 100,000 lives" by thwarting drug smuggling. In essence, he's saying that every boat intercepted and sunk off the coast of Venezuela is responsible for the death of 25,000 Americans, and therefore, these strikes are a form of kindness.

However, the numbers don't quite add up. The Trump administration has provided no concrete evidence to support its claim that the boats were carrying enough drugs to save 100,000 lives. In fact, experts say it's impossible to estimate how many people might have been saved or lost due to the seizures, given the lack of specifics about the type and quantity of drugs on board.

Furthermore, there's a problem with assuming that destroying these boats would have prevented 125,000 overdose deaths in the US – nearly double the number of lives lost to drug overdoses in an entire year. The claim relies on a simplistic math equation, ignoring variables like individual tolerance and the complexities of supply chains.

It's also worth noting that Venezuela plays a relatively minor role in trafficking drugs into the United States, with most illicit fentanyl entering the country through the southern border at official ports of entry. The majority of smuggling is done by US citizens, not Venezuelan fishermen.

So what does this say about Trump's claims? In short, there's no way to know for sure how many lives were saved due to these strikes, and the math doesn't support his assertion that one boat can save 25,000 American lives. PolitiFact rates his statement as False.

trump's numbers don't add up , anyone with basic maths skills knows you cant just multiply a bunch of seizures by some arbitrary number to get an estimate of lives saved . and what about all the other factors that influence overdose deaths? individual tolerance, supply chains... it's way more complex than trump makes it out to be

Imagine a Venn diagram with two overlapping circles: one circle represents the US coastline and the other circle represents Venezuela's coastline . Now, let's draw an arrow from the center of the overlap to the right side of the diagram, labeled "Drug Smuggling". It's like this:

+-----------------------+
| |
| USA Coastline |
| +---------------+ |
| | | |
| | US Citizens | |
| | (Smugglers) | |
| +---------------+ |
| |
+-----------------------+
|
|
v
+-----------------------+
| |
| Venezuela Coastline |
| +---------------+ |
| | | |
| | Venezuelan | |
| | Fishermen | |
| +---------------+ |
| |
+-----------------------+

Notice that the majority of smuggling (US Citizens) happens on one side, and Venezuela plays a relatively minor role. So, Trump's claim doesn't seem to add up

idk why ppl believe trump on this tho . like, he's just throwing around crazy numbers w/ no proof & expecting us to swallow it whole. newsflash: it doesn't add up . 100k+ overdose deaths in the US? that's a huge leap from some Venezuelan fishermen & their boats . not to mention venezuela plays like what, 10% of the game w/ smuggling fentanyl into the US? most smugglin' comes from within the country itself . gotta fact-check trump's claims before spreading that info around . btw, politifact is always right

idk how trump could say stuff like this ... i mean, like what's with all these numbers? it's not even a real thing to assume that sinking those boats would've saved all those lives . and venezuela's coast is already struggling enough without us making more drama out of things. plus, most people think it's just a way for trump to sound cool on the campaign trail . i'm not saying it doesn't matter, but can we please focus on something else for once? my math homework is stressing me out

idk why trump would say something like this like, what's the point of even making up stats? it sounds super fishy to me... but at the same time i guess it's good that he's trying to make a point about the opioid crisis and all still, though, shouldn't we be focusing on the root causes of addiction and not just throwing around numbers like they're nobody's business?

idk what's goin on with trump and venezuela... it's like he's tryin' to spin a story here . the numbers just don't add up, fam . i mean, if these seizures are really savin' that many lives, wouldn't there be some concrete proof? like, stats or somethin'? but nope, we're just left with trump's word and it's just not credible .

and what's up with the math, tho? if you can't even estimate how many lives were saved, then why are we makin' assumptions about the entire population? it's like, come on, guys. let's be real here . and btw, venezuela is just a tiny part of the problem when it comes to smuggling, so trump's claims are basically laughable .

I just don't get why Trump is making such a big deal about this . Like, what's the real point of sinking boats and claiming it saved all those lives? It sounds like a pretty weak attempt to boost his approval ratings . And honestly, who even knows how many people were on board or how much drugs they had? It's just too complicated . I don't think we should be buying into this narrative without some solid proof . And btw, isn't it weird that most of the smuggling is done by US citizens anyway?

omg... this is so crazy , like, 100k+ american lives saved by sinking a few boats off venezuela? it's just not adding up mathematically and even more so when you think about the complexities of drug trafficking in the us . i mean trump's claim sounds super noble at first but really it's just perpetuating a narrative that's not supported by facts . politifact is spot on with their rating of false

this whole thing sounds like a bunch of hooey to me... saving 100k+ lives by sinking some boats off venezuela's coast? come on, what's the logic behind that? and btw, if us citizens are doing most of the smuggling, why should we be pinning all our hopes on some venezuelan fishermen and btw, who's counting those 125k overdose deaths anyway? i'm not buying it

I'm so skeptical of this whole thing . I mean, come on, a simple math equation that says destroying a few boats is going to save over a quarter of a million people in the US? It just doesn't add up. And what about all those overdose deaths in the US that are linked to fentanyl coming through official ports? You'd think Trump would be more focused on addressing that problem, but nope .

And have you seen the numbers he's throwing around? 100,000 lives saved by sinking a few boats off the coast of Venezuela? It sounds like something out of a bad movie plot . I'm not saying it couldn't be true, but without some actual evidence to back it up, I think we should all take Trump's claim with a grain of salt .

And what really gets me is that Politifact has already given his statement a big fat "False" label . That's just good journalism right there, in my opinion .

I'm so tired of Trump's exaggeration . Like, come on, 100k lives saved by sinking a few boats? It sounds like something out of a bad action movie . And what really gets me is that he's trying to spin this as "kindness" . Newsflash, Mr. President: destroying people's livelihoods isn't kindness .

And have you seen the numbers on overdose deaths in the US? Like, nearly 125k a year... it's crazy . So if Trump thinks sinking some boats is going to solve that problem, he's sadly mistaken . Plus, let's be real, most of the smuggling is done by US citizens, not Venezuelans . It just doesn't add up .

I'm all for tackling the opioid crisis and cracking down on trafficking, but we need to do it with facts, not fake news . And when will Trump stop spreading misinformation?

I was just thinking, have you guys ever noticed how weird it is when we're all just cruising around on our daily lives, and suddenly a boat gets sunk off the coast of Venezuela, and BAM! Boom! Suddenly Trump's gotta claim that 25k American lives are saved? Like what's up with that? And have you seen those old video games where you get to be a pilot and you gotta fly over the ocean, avoiding enemy ships? That was so much fun when I was a kid

I'm telling you, something fishy is going on here. This whole story about Trump's claims sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me . I mean, who are we supposed to believe? The President himself or experts in the field? And what's with all these vague numbers and assumptions? It's like he's trying to pull the wool over our eyes .

And don't even get me started on the fact that most of the smuggling is done by US citizens, not Venezuelan fishermen. So why are we blaming Venezuela for the problem? That just doesn't add up. It's like Trump is trying to distract us from something else entirely... like what exactly is he hiding .

I'm not buying it. I think there's more to this story than meets the eye. And when PolitiFact rates his statement as False, that's a big red flag for me . Something's fishy here, and I aim to find out what .