WASHINGTON — President Trump’s White House counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka told The Post that he believes China intentionally flooded the United States with fentanyl in a present-day “Opium War” designed to weaken America through the “targeted killing” of its citizens.

Gorka unloaded the blistering assessment Monday in a “Pod Force One” interview with The Post’s Miranda Devine — before Trump departed Tuesday afternoon for a state visit to Beijing that is expected to focus on trade relations.

“They see our city on a hill as the newest version of the British Empire, and it is now payback time for the Opium Wars. Many have said that, and I think there is something to that,” Gorka said.

“This is about how do you take down a Goliath? What is the slingshot? Some people say fentanyl is the slingshot.”

The Opium War analogy, previously made by Republicans in Congress, likens fentanyl smuggling to the two 19th century conflicts in which the UK and France forced China to allow the lucrative import of opium, which caused a wave of addiction and associated social wreckage.

Fentanyl exported primarily from China killed about 403,000 Americans over the past seven years, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

“We have one nation, China, that is providing the precursors to those weapons of mass destruction, which the president has designated as such,” Gorka said.

“This isn’t recreational drugs causing accidental deaths. This isn’t something to do with the empty souls in America. This is a targeted killing of Americans.”

“When you are flooding millions of pills into America disguised as recreational drugs like ecstasy, but in fact each one is a lethal dose of fentanyl, that’s not the regular drug problem,” Gorka added.

“That’s war by other means.”

The staggering US death toll — with one in every 850 residents dying over seven years — is the result of the potent synthetic opioid being cut into heroin, cocaine and even counterfeit prescriptions, killing unwitting users.

The drug can be fatal in doses equivalent to just five grains of salt, causing respiratory arrest.

It’s unclear what effect Gorka’s forceful commentary may have on Trump’s trip to Beijing, where officials have for years denied responsibility defensively.

“Fentanyl is America’s problem,” China’s foreign ministry said last year. “The Chinese side has carried out extensive anti-narcotics cooperation with the United States and achieved remarkable results.”

Deaths peaked in 2023 and have since declined, though experts debate the cause.

China says it has restricted exports, but other factors could explain fewer fatalities, such as better US and Mexican port and border controls, the increased prevalence of inexpensive drug test strips and overdose-reversing medication, and the dwindling pool of opioid-addicted potential victims.

Still, about 39,000 Americans died in the 12 months ending in November, the most recent period for which CDC data are available — indicating deaths from fentanyl remain elevated from before the COVID-19 pandemic, when US-China relations cratered.

Trump previously blasted China for its fentanyl exports and upon taking office last year slapped a 20% tariff on all Chinese goods to pressure a reduction in smuggling. He cut the rate to 10% in October after President Xi Jinping privately pledged during a summit in South Korea to do more to fix the problem.

The Supreme Court in February struck down Trump’s fentanyl levies, along with his “reciprocal” tariffs on other countries, forcing an ongoing repayment of at least $166 billion to companies that paid the fees.

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Every week, Post columnist Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid conversations with the most influential disruptors in Washington on ‘Pod Force One.’ Subscribe here!

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Trump has not announced a replacement financial penalty for fentanyl.

Fentanyl has legitimate medical applications, such as its use in slow-release patches to treat chronic pain, but the current crisis is fueled by the illicit international trade, with fentanyl smuggled into the US through criminal groups in Canada and Mexico and via the international shipping and mail systems.

Other parts of the world, such as Europe, have not experienced the same flood of fentanyl.

Unlike viruses such as COVID-19, fentanyl disproportionately kills working-age Americans — with the highest toll in recent years among adults 35-45.

In addition to millions of bereaved relatives, the carnage has eliminated a half-million workers from the labor force, sapping government coffers of tax revenue and leaving their dependents on safety-net programs like Social Security survivor’s benefits.

Prominent victims have included rapper Mac Miller, whose 2011 hit “Donald Trump” celebrated the future president’s glitzy lifestyle, and people across social classes, including musician Prince and a grandson of actor Robert de Niro.

Trump told a Post reporter last October, shortly ahead of his initial second-term meeting with the Chinese president, that “the first question I’m going to be asking [Xi] about is fentanyl.”

“[China is] paying right now a 20% tariff because of fentanyl. That’s billions and billions of dollars that they’re paying. On November 1, the tariff on China goes to 157% which is record setting territory. And we don’t want that, because it’s not sustainable for them,” Trump said at the time.

“They make $100 million selling fentanyl into our country — $100 million. They lose $100 billion with the 20% tariff. So it’s not a good business proposition.”