President Donald Trump announced new agreements with major pharmaceutical companies Monday that he said will bring U.S. prescription drug prices in line with the lowest prices paid by other developed countries and save Americans more than $600 billion.
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The agreements expand Trump’s most-favored-nation drug pricing initiative, which seeks to end the significantly higher prices Americans have historically paid for many prescription medications compared with patients overseas.
“Our most favored nations’ discounts represent the largest reduction in prescription drug prices in the history of our country,” Trump said during an Oval Office announcement attended by executives from some of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
The administration now has most-favored-nation agreements with 26 pharmaceutical manufacturers representing 89% of the branded prescription drug market, according to the White House.
Americans have long paid substantially more for prescription drugs than patients in other wealthy countries. A 2024 RAND Corp. analysis found that U.S. prescription drug prices averaged nearly three times those in comparison countries, while prices for branded medications were more than four times as high.
Trump argued that the disparity allowed pharmaceutical companies and foreign governments to effectively shift a disproportionate share of drug costs onto American patients.
“We were ripped off by the pharmaceutical companies, and we were ripped off more than anything by other countries throughout the world,” Trump said.
The president said the United States accounts for about 13% of global prescription drug consumption while generating approximately 75% of pharmaceutical industry profits.
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Under the most-favored-nation approach, the administration says Americans will receive prices tied to the lowest amounts pharmaceutical manufacturers charge in other developed nations.
“But under that most favored nation agreement, we now pay the lowest price paid by other countries anywhere in the world,” Trump said.
Reducing prescription drug costs has been a major domestic priority of Trump’s second term as Republicans prepare for November’s midterm elections.
Trump said his aggressive negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry had also come at a personal cost.
“I lost some very good friends” while pushing for lower prices, Trump said, without identifying them.
The administration projects that the agreements will ultimately save American patients more than $600 billion.
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