President Trump said Thursday he wants the Justice Department to bring a federal lawsuit against drug manufacturers who have contributed to the opioid crisis and urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to examine the flow of the drugs coming from China and Mexico.

The two countries, Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Thursday, are “sending their garbage and killing our people.” He specifically noted the flow of fentanyl coming from China and Mexico and urged Sessions to do whatever he can “from a legal standpoint.”

“It’s almost a form of warfare,” the president said.

Sessions told Trump the Justice Department is returning indictments against distributors from China and has identified specific companies moving fentanyl.

“We have not achieved as much advantage as we would like,” the attorney general said. “Most of it is going to Mexico and then crossing the border, unlawfully, from Mexico. We're going to work on that.”

[Also read: 1 in 5 college students knows someone addicted to opioids]

Sessions announced in February the Justice Department would support plaintiffs in an opioids lawsuit pending in federal court in Ohio. The lawsuit consolidated 400 complaints filed by state and local governments and Native American tribes across the country who sued opioid manufacturers and distributors.

But Trump said he does not want the Justice Department to solely join existing lawsuits against opioid companies, but rather sue on its own.

“Some states have done it, but I would like a lawsuit to be brought against these companies that are really sending opioids at a level that it shouldn’t be happening,” Trump said.

Sessions told the president the Justice Department is continuing to explore "various different legal avenues to go after abusive companies."

In October, Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency and instructed federal agencies to devote money and resources to fighting the epidemic.