Trump signs executive order to lower the price of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals

Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to reduce the price of prescription drugs that aims to bring the United States in line with what other countries pay.

At a press conference, alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the president said that they will not tolerate "profiteering and price gouging from big pharma."

“Starting today, the United States will no longer subsidise the health care of foreign countries, which is what we were doing", he also said.

Trump also said the U.S. had the highest drug price range in the world, which causes pharmaceutical companies to make more than two-thirds of their profits from America.

The president explained that he will use the term "equalization": 

“The principle is simple, whatever the lowest price paid for a drug in other developed countries, that is the price that Americans will pay,” he said.

Likewise the president asked : "Why are we paying 10 times more? Suckers!"

Trump said, "Nobody knows the system like I do. ... Obamacare is a failure, it's not a good healthcare. I made it work."

The president said he wanted improve healthcare by lowering drug prices. Thus, the plan will not be limited to Medicare prescriptions, but will also affect drugs covered by Medicaid and private insurance. It is expected that weight-loss drugs will be on the list.

Trump claimed he wants to lower drug prices by 59% to 90%, assuring that pharmaceutical companies will accept and that he will also cut out the middlemen.

The president said he does not know who the middlemen are, but that he knows they are "rich that I can tell you."

Also, the president has said that his administration will investigate the pharmaceutical companies and the countries that allow this. He said that everyone should agree that "the same price must be paid." "I'm doing this for Americans," Trump asserted.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr: EEUU represents 75 % of the revenues for pharmaceutical companies,

Kennedy said the pharmaceutical industry also donated to Trump.

"I think they gave you $100 million but he can't be bought, unlike most politicians in this country, and he is standing here for the American people," Kennedy said.

“Our country represents 75 percent of the revenues for pharmaceutical companies,” he said.

“President Trump is saying to our European partners, ‘you've got to raise the amount that you're paying for those drugs and pay for your share of the innovation that the United States is no longer subsidising’,” he continued.

Over the next 30 days, the administration will approach the pharmaceutical companies to tell them what fair price they want.

If talks stall, Kennedy will apply the "most favored nation" pricing model, which limits U.S. prices to the lower rates paid by other wealthy nations.

"This administration stands for what is fair," said Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Previously, on Truth Social, the president announced on Monday that the reduction would be 59%.

Likewise, Trump announced, "Gasoline, Energy, Groceries, and all other costs, DOWN."

The estimate of these percentages in the price reduction on drugs follows comments he made on Sunday, when he said on social media that he would would sign the order pursuing "most favored nation" pricing, which would result in cuts of 30% to 80%.

"For many years the World has wondered why Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceuticals in the United States States of America were SO MUCH HIGHER IN PRICE THAN THEY WERE IN ANY OTHER NATION, SOMETIMES BEING FIVE TO TEN TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE SAME DRUG, MANUFACTURED IN THE EXACT SAME LABORATORY OR PLANT, BY THE SAME COMPANY??? It was always difficult to explain and very embarrassing because, in fact, there was no correct or rightful answer. The Pharmaceutical/Drug Companies would say, for years, that it was Research and Development Costs, and that all of these costs were, and would be, for no reason whatsoever, borne by the 'suckers' of America, ALONE," the president wrote on Truth Social.