Dutch health institute issues 'red alert' over Trump-shaped ecstasy pills

A Dutch drug addiction and mental health institute has issued a "red alert" to users about potentially lethal ecstasy pills which resemble US President Donald Trump.

The Utrecht-based Trimbos Institute said several of the pills had been handed in at testing centres in August and were found to contain a "very high" amount of the chemical PMMA.

"Do not use this pill under any circumstance," the institute said in its warning, cautioning that the drug could cause "overheating with potentially fatal consequences".

It issued images of the pills, which feature a depiction of Trump's face on one side and the words "Trump" and "NL" stamped on the other.

PMMA, or para-methoxymethamfetamine, is a substance similar to MDMA – the active ingredient in ecstasy pills.

"However, the effect occurs later, and the stimulating effect is often absent," the health institute advised. "This increases the risk of overdose."

Users are being warned they could experience symptoms such as nausea, an increased heart rate and convulsions hours after ingesting the pills.

Trimbos Institute spokesperson Anniek Groothuis told the Associated Press that it had no reported cases of death or serious illness among possible users.

While producing, selling and using ecstasy is illegal in the Netherlands, a 2024 Dutch government report said the substance was "still quite popular as a party drug".

The report added that, in 2022, a "record 550,000 people" had taken the drug at least once.

This is not the first time Donald Trump's facial features appear to have been used as inspiration for the shape of ecstasy pills.

In 2017, German police confiscated about 5,000 carrot-coloured ecstasy tablets in the shape of the US president's head – which they believed had been promoted on the internet under the slogan "Trump makes partying great again".