Daniel Payne , 2025-05-12 00:16:00
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Sunday that he would sign an executive order to base U.S. drug prices on what other countries pay — usually far less than Americans do.
The order, which was widely expected, will mean the U.S. will “pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The statement left unanswered key questions about the so-called “most-favored nation” policy — which Trump also tried to advance in his first administration — and any effort is almost certain to be challenged by the pharmaceutical industry in court.
Trump said the order, which he plans to sign Monday morning, would decrease drug prices “almost immediately, by 30% to 80%,” and would save trillions for the U.S. He called the policy “one of the most consequential Executive Orders in our Country’s history.”
But it likely won’t be that simple. When a similar policy was proposed in Trump’s first term, it was blocked by the courts, though the president’s supporters say he can avoid a similar defeat this time by more carefully adhering to policymaking rules for the executive branch.
Several significant details remain unknown, including the legal mechanism the administration plans to use. As he did in his first term, Trump could again create a pilot through the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation — or he could use former president Joe Biden’s landmark drug-pricing law, which allowed Medicare to negotiate the prices of some high-cost drugs.
The White House originally tried to get a similar policy into a legislative package on Capitol Hill, but several Republicans rejected the idea.
In his post on Sunday, Trump appeared to nod to the fact that many in industry and even in his own party are unhappy with the push — but doubled down on his commitment.
“Contributions can do wonders, but not with me, and not with the Republican Party,” he said. “We are going to do the right thing, something that the Democrats have fought for many years.”
