President Donald Trump is turning up the heat on America’s pharmaceutical giants, demanding immediate action to lower prescription drug prices or face aggressive federal intervention.
In a letter sent to the CEO of Eli Lilly — and similarly addressed to the heads of 16 other major pharmaceutical companies — Trump laid out clear expectations: U.S. drug prices must match the lowest rates available in other countries.
Big Pharma now has until September 29 to comply or face consequences, according to the President.
“In case after case, our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill, from the same factory, effectively subsidizing socialism aboard (abroad) with skyrocketing prices at home,” Trump said in a July 30 announcement.
The letter follows a new executive order signed by The President earlier this year, implementing “Most Favored Nation” pricing for prescription drugs. Under the policy, Americans should never pay more than the lowest price offered for the same medication anywhere else in the world.
Currently, U.S. patients often pay two to three times more than patients in countries like Germany or Canada for the same brand-name drugs, per the White House. Trump called this imbalance a result of global “freeloading” on American pharmaceutical innovation, and said his administration would no longer tolerate it.
“(The federal government) will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices,” the letter reads.
Trump’s demands include:
- Extending “Most Favored Nation” pricing to Medicaid
- Guaranteeing such pricing for newly launched drugs
- Returning increased international profits to benefit American patients
- Offering direct consumer purchasing at the lowest global prices
In a White House press briefing, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt backed the president’s move, reading excerpts from the letter before claiming that it will be sent to every large pharmaceutical company in America.
While critics argue the aggressive approach could lead to supply disruptions or industry pushback, Trump made his position clear: the era of unchecked and outrageous drug pricing in America is over.
“Americans will no longer be forced to pay almost three times more for the exact same medicines, often made in the exact same factories. As the largest purchaser of pharmaceuticals, Americans should get the best deal,” Trump said.