ATLANTA — President Donald Trump brought his campaign for a border wall to the frontlines of the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis: a conference for substance abuse professionals.

“We’re going to have a wall. It’s going to be a very powerful wall. It’s under construction,” Trump said to some cheers and applause at the Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in downtown Atlanta. “It will have a tremendous impact on drugs coming into our country.”

Trump, who shared the stage with Melania, also highlighted steps his administration has already taken to counter the opioid crisis since he declared a national public health emergency in 2017, including securing billions of dollars to the counter the crisis.

There is debate over whether the crisis has peaked, but that remains unclear. Trump pointed to some signs of progress, including a drop in opioid prescriptions.

Drug overdose deaths have climbed at alarming rates in the United States in recent years, with more than 70,000 people dying in 2017, which is the most recent year that data is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly two-thirds of those drug overdose deaths involved an opioid, with about 130 people dying every day.

West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and Kentucky had the highest rates of deaths from drug overdoses, but several states – including Georgia – saw significant spikes in overdose deaths from 2016.

Georgia saw more than a 10 percent increase, with 1,537 people dying. About 1,000 people died from an opioid overdose, doubling the number of deaths from just five years ago, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

“My administration has also embarked on an unprecedented effort to shut down online criminal networks, crack down on illegal international shipments and stop the deadly flow of drugs into our country,” Trump said to a packed crowd.

Trump touted efforts to work with China to address the influx of fentanyl into the United States and his administration’s push to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable in the courtroom for the unscrupulous distribution of opioids.

Trump’s speech came one day after drug-trafficking charges were filed against a major drug distributor, Rochester Drug Cooperative.

“We are holding big pharma accountable. They should be accountable,” Trump said. 

Trump vowed not to let up.

“We will not solve this epidemic overnight, but there’s just nothing that’s going to stop us,” he said. “We will never stop until our job is done.”

The president brought several guests onto the stage with him, including two Georgia law-enforcement officers who intercepted $19 million in cocaine hidden in a shipment of Colombian pineapples at the Port of Savannah last year.

Trump also featured two people who are in recovery and who now work to help others struggling with addiction, and in an emotional turn, the president brought on stage a law-enforcement officer from Virginia, Tom Murphy, whose son died from a heroin and fentanyl overdose two years ago.

“The stigma needs to stop. You need to share your story,” said Murphy, who wears a bracelet that says “Every overdose is someone’s child.”

“Don’t judge. Educate,” Murphy said.