Dutch mental health and addiction institute warns President Donald Trump ecstasy pills are potentially lethal: ‘This Trump pill is extremely dangerous’
The Trimbos Institute, a Dutch mental health and addiction research center, issued a national “Red Alert”, warning drug users against ecstasy pills shaped like U.S. President Donald Trump‘s head.
The institute said the pills contain dangerously high concentrations of PMMA (para-methoxymethamphetamine), a substance that can cause fatal overheating and warned users: “Absolutely do not use these pills.”
The warning, published on the institute’s website and social media channels, followed submissions of the pills to drug-testing locations operated by the Drugs Information and Monitoring System, known as DIMS. Dutch outlet DutchReview reported that the pills had appeared at multiple testing sites across the country.
What the pills look like
The tablets feature Trump’s head on one side, with “NL” and “Trump” stamped on the reverse and separated by a vertical line, according to a photo released by the Trimbos Institute.
Fox News, citing the same photo, reported that the pills come in multiple color combinations. One version has a green front and red back, while another has a yellow front and blue back.
The chemical danger
PMMA is chemically similar to MDMA, the active ingredient in standard ecstasy, but takes longer to produce effects. The delay can lead users who feel nothing after taking a pill to take more, increasing the risk of overdose, the institute said.
In the United States, PMMA is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the same classification given to MDMA.
CBS News reported that delayed effects can cause users to take more than intended, potentially resulting in overheating, epileptic seizures, loss of consciousness or heart problems. Trimbos spokesperson Anniek Groothuis told the Associated Press that symptoms can include nausea, an increased heart rate, convulsions and dangerously high body temperature.
No deaths reported yet
Despite the severity of the warning, Groothuis told the Associated Press that no illnesses or deaths had been definitively linked to the pills.
“We do not know of any victims where PMMA was found in their blood,” she said.
“This Trump pill is extremely dangerous,” Groothuis said.
Still, the institute urged anyone who has taken one of the pills and develops severe symptoms to call emergency medical services immediately and keep the affected person calm while waiting for help.
Groothuis also warned that more tainted pills could be circulating undetected. Drug users who submit samples to testing centers typically provide only one pill rather than their entire supply, making the scale of distribution difficult to determine.
Ecstasy in the Netherlands
Producing, selling and using ecstasy remains illegal in the Netherlands, although the drug is widely used at nightclubs and music festivals.
A 2024 Dutch government report estimated that about 550,000 people in the country used ecstasy that year, according to figures cited by NBC News.
Trump-branded pills have appeared before
The latest warning is not the first time ecstasy pills featuring Trump’s likeness have surfaced.
In 2017, German police seized about 5,000 orange Trump-shaped ecstasy tablets in Osnabrück, with an estimated street value of nearly $47,000. A 51-year-old man and his 17-year-old son were arrested in connection with the seizure.
In August 2018, the U.K. drug-safety nonprofit The Loop tested Trump-shaped pills circulating at a British music festival and found they contained roughly three times the average adult dose of MDMA.
In August 2019, police in Clearwater, Florida, recovered Trump-shaped pills after responding to an overdose call.
In 2024, investigators in Glasgow, Scotland, examined whether similar Trump-face tablets were connected to the 2023 deaths of three teenagers at the SWG3 nightclub.