Donald Trump says he’s ready to take on Big Pharma—and he’s using a law signed by Joe Biden to do it.
In a post on Truth Social Sunday, the president announced he will sign an executive order Monday morning to slash prescription drug prices across the board. His plan: force drug companies to match the lowest prices paid by other wealthy countries—a move he calls the “MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY.”
“I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote.
Americans pay more for prescription drugs than any other country—often two to three times as much. Trump says that ends now.
“They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!” he posted.
Sources close to the drug industry say the executive order will use President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act as a starting point—but expand it dramatically. That law, passed in 2022, allows Medicare to negotiate prices for a handful of drugs. So far, it covers just 10 medications. Trump’s plan would go much further.
Four pharmaceutical lobbyists told Reporters they’ve been briefed by the White House and expect the order to cover a much wider range of medicines—not just those under Medicare.
This isn’t Trump’s first attempt to tie U.S. drug prices to international rates. He tried it during his first term, but the courts blocked it. At the time, his administration projected it could save taxpayers more than $85 billion over seven years. The U.S. currently spends more than $400 billion a year on prescription drugs.
Drug companies are already pushing back.
“Government price setting in any form is bad for American patients,” said Alex Schriver, spokesperson for PhRMA, the powerful lobbying group for drugmakers.
