Trump demands lower drug prices, warns of penalties for pharma firms

In letters to 17 drug companies published on his Platform Truth Social, Trump said he wants the firms to work with his administration to institute a series of changes within 60 days

  • Published:
  • 01/08/2025 11:55 AM

A file photo of medications displayed on shelves at a pharmacy in Los Angeles, California. U.S, May 12, 2025. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals by 30% to 80%. Image: Eric Thayer/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump told major pharmaceutical firms Thursday to lower prices or face punishment, as he moved to give Americans relief from medicine costs much higher than elsewhere in the world.

In letters to 17 drug companies published on his Platform Truth Social, Trump said he wants the firms to work with his administration to institute a series of changes within 60 days.

Related Stories

  • Despite Trump's tariffs, global trade system avoids collapse
  • Tariff trouble: Disruption in numbers
  • India-US trade deal: Farm imports blocked

"If you refuse to step up we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices," Trump wrote without specifying what the consequences would entail.

Trump is following up an on executive order he signed in May to address US drug prices that are among the highest in the world—more than three times what people in similarly developed countries pay, the White House said Thursday.

Also read:  Indian pharma braces for Trump tariff fallout

In the letters Trump said the response he has received so far to his order from companies have been "more of the same: shifting blame" and policy changes that would in fact benefit the industry, not consumers.

Key to the Trump plan is a "Most Favored Nation" policy that pins the cost of drugs sold in the United States to the lowest price paid by other countries for the same drug.

Trump said Thursday he wants the companies to extend this pricing policy to medications used by older people under the government-backed health program Medicaid.

He also wants this status to apply to new drugs, Trump said in the letters.

"Americans are demanding lower drug prices and they need them today," Trump wrote.

Last Updated :

August 01, 25 12:03:23 PM IST