How Trump aims to cut a ‘scam’ that is bleeding Americans dry

Donald Trump proposed an executive order to align US drug prices with the lowest developed country prices, potentially reducing costs by 59-90%.

As the trade war is on a hiatus, Donald Trump claimed that for decades, Americans have unknowingly funded a system where they pay up to ten times more for prescription drugs than people in other European countries. The scale of this disparity is huge; a breast cancer drug that costs $16,000 in the U.S. is only $1,600 in Sweden. Same drug. Same company. Same factory.

Trump criticized the disparity in prescription drug prices between the U.S. and Europe, suggesting Americans pay excessively while foreign governments negotiate lower rates. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(AP)

So why have Americans been footing this oversized bill?

Trump called this a “scam for America’s beneficiaries,” a long-running scheme where U.S. patients end up subsidising the rest of the world’s medicine.

“President, I just paid $88 for this fat drug I take. In New York, I paid $1,300. What the hell is going on?” ne particular story he shared

Asthma medications that cost $500 in the U.S. are sold for less than $40 in the U.K. Even trendy weight-loss injections come at a tenth of the U.S. price abroad.

The reason? According to Trump, it’s by design. Foreign governments negotiate rock-bottom drug prices for their citizens. They tell drug companies: take this low price or don’t sell here. Since pharmaceutical giants still want to make profits, they shift the cost burden to U.S. customers.

“The drug lobby is the strongest lobby in this country,” Trump stated. He proposed solution is what he calls a “most favored nations” executive order. In plain terms, Americans should only pay what the lowest-paying developed country does. If Australia gets a cancer drug for $100, then the U.S. will too. Trump estimated that this policy could “drop drug prices by 59–90% almost immediately.”

Critics once justified U.S. prices by pointing to “research and development” costs. Trump’s take? Let other countries pay more, so Americans aren’t footing the entire bill anymore.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. backed Trump’s claims in a White House briefing, stating,“Every major Democratic leader for 20 years made this promise to the American people.”

“Congress is controlled in so many ways by the pharmaceutical industry,” RFK Jr. said. “There's at least one pharmaceutical lobbyist for every congressman, every senator on Capitol Hill, and every member of the Supreme Court.”