United States President Donald Trump has announced plans to sign a sweeping executive order aimed at dramatically reducing the cost of prescription drugs, saying prices could drop by as much as 80% almost immediately.
The move comes as part of what Trump calls a renewed push to fix what he describes as a long-standing unfair system that leaves Americans paying more for medications than people in other parts of the world.
“Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be reduced, almost immediately, by 30 per cent to 80 per cent,” Trump posted on his social media account on Sunday.
The president said the executive order will be signed at 9 a.m. (1300 GMT) on Monday, and described it as one of the most important actions taken in U.S. history to make healthcare more affordable.
He also noted that this decision will push up prices in other countries to balance global pricing and ensure “fairness to America.”
The announcement follows earlier hints during the week, when Trump teased what he called an “earth-shattering” update. U.S. media had speculated at the time that the matter would involve prescription drug pricing, a topic Trump has frequently addressed.
In the United States, there is currently no single system that regulates how much drugs should cost. Pharmaceutical companies play the biggest role in deciding prices, with limited influence from the government.
As a result, U.S. consumers often pay much more for common and life-saving medications than people in other countries.
This is not Trump’s first attempt to take on the pharmaceutical industry. During his previous term, he introduced a plan to offer cheaper drugs — including insulin and EpiPens — to lower-income Americans.
That earlier effort also included using international pricing as a benchmark for Medicare, the public insurance program for senior citizens. However, that proposal was eventually blocked due to political and legal hurdles.
This time, Trump says he will move forward using a “most favored nation” approach, which means the U.S. would pay the same lowest price offered by any other developed country.
He also noted that Democrats resisted previous efforts to lower drug costs, even though drug pricing was also a key issue under President Joe Biden. In 2022, Biden signed legislation that allowed Medicare to begin negotiating some drug prices, a move widely seen as historic.
Still, Trump’s current plan appears to go further and faster than anything attempted in recent years.
