President Donald Trump says he will announce a new prescription drug initiative he promises will dramatically—and immediately—reduce the price of pharmaceuticals.
“I am pleased to announce that Tomorrow morning, in the White House, at 9:00 A.M., I will be signing one of the most consequential Executive Orders in our Country’s history,” Trump said in a Sunday evening announcement on X. “Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%. They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”
The president said he will institute a “most favored nations” policy under which Americans will pay “the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World.”
Drugs produced by U.S. pharmaceutical companies are frequently priced far lower overseas. In his statement, Trump rejected what he contended was the argument from drug companies that research and development costs had to be borne by U.S. consumers, saying the manufacturers were making “suckers” of Americans.
Drugmakers believe actions such as the one Trump will take Monday reduce incentives to develop new drugs and are harmful in the long run.
“Government price setting in any form is bad for American patients,” said Alex Schriver, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America—known as PhRMA—in a statement to Reuters when asked about Trump’s planned executive order.
Trump claimed he is able to take this action while others won’t because he is immune to the political effect of pharmaceutical company campaign donations.
