Article snippet: President Donald Trump officially declared the opioid epidemic a "national public health emergency" in an announcement at the White House Thursday. The move diverges from previous promises -- even as recently as Wednesday night -- to declare the epidemic a "national emergency." "Effective today my administration is officially declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency under federal law," the president said Thursday. "And why I am directing all executive agencies to use every appropriate emergency authority to fight the opioid crisis." The president shared a personal story of his experience with addiction, through his brother Fred, who struggled with alcohol. "I learned myself, I had a brother Fred, great guy, best-looking guy, best personality, much better than mine, but he had a problem. He had a problem with alcohol. And he would tell me, 'Don't drink. Don't drink,'" he said. "And to this day, I've never had a drink. And I have no longing for it. I have no interest in it." He continued: "But it really helped me. I had somebody that guided me. And he had a very, very, very tough life because of alcohol, believe me, very, very tough life. He was a strong guy, but it was a tough, tough thing that he was going through. But I learned because of Fred, I learned." Two senior administration officials confirmed to ABC News that the president will direct acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan to announce a nationwide pub... Link to the full article to read more