America First Medicine: How Trump Made Big Pharma Blink
For decades, Americans paid the world's highest drug prices while other countries got a discount. President Trump used deals, not more bureaucracy, to bring 26 drugmakers to the table. In our view, it's one of the smartest plays of his second term.
By Clara Hughes, Senior Features Writer
Label: Altas World News Opinion Estimated read time: 7 minutes Key takeaways 26 drugmakers covering about 90% of the U.S. branded drug market have signed "Most Favored Nation" deals to bring U.S. prices in line with the lowest prices paid by comparable developed nations [1][2]. The White House says every state Medicaid program, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, now gets MFN pricing, and projects nearly $65 billion in Medicaid savings over a decade [1]. Prescription drug prices fell 3.1% in the year ending in July, the steepest annual drop since 1963, according to federal data [4][5]. We argue the President's pressure campaign deserves a large share of the credit. The problem every family knows Ask anyone over 45 who fills a prescription every month. Americans have long paid more for the same medicine than people in Canada, Britain or Germany. The President's view, in the White House's words, is that foreign nations should no longer "use price controls to freeride on American innovation" [2]. We agree. American patients and American taxpayers fund a huge share of the world's drug research. In our view, it was never fair for them to also pay the highest prices on Earth. How the President did it The President didn't wait for Congress. He started with a direct order and a deadline. May 12, 2025: He signed an executive order titled "Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients" [2]. July 31, 2025: He sent letters to 17 of the leading drugmakers spelling out what they had to do to bring U.S. prices down to the lowest price offered in other developed nations. The White House says every one of those 17 now has an MFN deal [2]. Sept. 30, 2025: Pfizer signed the first agreement [2]. Dec. 1, 2025: The U.S. reached an agreement with the United Kingdom that the White House says will raise the net price of new prescription drugs in the U.K. by 25%, so British buyers pay more of their fair share [2]. Feb. 5, 2026: TrumpRx.gov launched as a place for pati…