Trump Announces Executive Order to Slash Prescription Drug Prices by Up to 80%

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he will sign an executive order aimed at dramatically reducing prescription drug prices in the United States, vowing cuts ranging from 30% to 80%. The measure, set to be signed at the White House at 9:00 a.m. Monday, marks what Trump described as one of the most “consequential Executive Orders in our Country’s history.”

In a statement posted to social media, Trump sharply criticized the pharmaceutical industry and past administrations for allowing American consumers to bear the burden of inflated drug prices.

“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???” Trump wrote.

He went on to denounce pharmaceutical companies for blaming high prices on research and development costs, calling the explanation “very embarrassing” and claiming that Americans were being treated as “suckers.”

“Campaign Contributions can do wonders, but not with me, and not with the Republican Party. We are going to do the right thing, something that the Democrats have fought for many years,” he added.

The executive order will implement a “Most Favored Nation’s Policy,” a pricing strategy that would require the United States to pay no more for prescription drugs than the lowest price paid by any other country. Trump claimed this policy would both lower domestic costs and raise prices abroad, leveling the international playing field.

“Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%,” he wrote. “They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”

Trump emphasized the potential economic benefits of the policy, asserting that the country could save “TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS” and bring long-overdue relief to American consumers.