Dutch authorities have issued a national warning over ecstasy tablets moulded in the shape of Donald Trump’s head after tests found they contained a potentially lethal concentration of PMMA.
The Trimbos Institute, which monitors drug use and addiction in the Netherlands, said several of the tablets had been submitted to testing centres in recent days. A separate tablet was also analysed by the Netherlands Forensic Institute.
The pills are made in different colour combinations. They feature an image of the US president on one side, while the reverse is marked “NL” and “Trump” on either side of a break line.
Trimbos said the tablets contained a “very high” amount of PMMA, or para-methoxymethamphetamine, a substance chemically similar to MDMA, the main active ingredient in ecstasy.
“Absolutely do not use these pills,” the institute said in a Red Alert issued on Friday.
PMMA can take considerably longer to produce noticeable effects than MDMA. That delay may lead people to take more of the drug, increasing the risk of an overdose.
The institute warned that serious symptoms can emerge hours after consumption, including nausea, a rapid heartbeat, seizures and an extremely high body temperature. Overheating can be fatal.
Anyone who has taken one of the tablets and develops severe symptoms should contact emergency services or seek immediate medical help, Trimbos said. People nearby should try to keep the affected person calm while help is on its way.
No cases have so far been reported in which PMMA from the tablets was found in a victim’s bloodstream, according to Anniek Groothuis, a spokeswoman for the institute. However, the Dutch health minister, Sophie Hermans, said a nationwide alert had been considered necessary because of summer festivals and events taking place this weekend.
The warning is also being distributed through the Red Alert app, which is used to notify the public, addiction services, festival organisers and first-aid organisations about especially dangerous drugs.
Trimbos said the Drugs Information and Monitoring System, known as DIMS, had already been advising since May against taking tablets containing PMMA alongside MDMA, even where the amount of PMMA was lower.
The DIMS network operates through 34 testing locations run by 12 participating organisations, many of them addiction-care services. Users can submit drugs for analysis before taking them, allowing officials to track the appearance of new or unusually dangerous substances.
Ecstasy is illegal to produce, sell or possess in the Netherlands, although it remains widely used in nightlife settings and at music festivals. A Dutch government report published in 2024 estimated that about 550,000 people had taken the drug during the previous year measured.
The discovery of Trump-shaped tablets is not entirely new. German police seized thousands of similarly designed orange pills in 2017, although the latest Dutch warning relates specifically to the presence of PMMA.
