Trump says he cut drug prices "400, 500, 600, 700, 800%," which is not mathematically possible

[Rawley]

Quit defending it.

Odd that your cult hates drastically reduced drug prices. You used to be for that.

 

[Marener]

Odd that your cult hates drastically reduced drug prices. You used to be for that.

Trump Misleads on Drug Pricing Deals - FactCheck.org

President Donald Trump has said that Americans are now paying or will pay "the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs," thanks to the administration’s negotiations with pharmaceutical companies. The administration has announced discounted cash prices for a small number of brand-name drugs...

www.factcheck.org

 

[Nobody911]

Trump once again demonstrates his inability to do elementary school math. It is not possible to reduce something by more than 100%. You would think someone in his inner circle would tell him to stop repeating this nonsense.

In the U.S., drug companies can often set prices high because the system lets them. They get a lot of protection from patents, so competitors can’t jump in fast and make cheaper versions.

Also, the U.S. doesn’t usually push prices down as hard as other countries do. In a lot of places, the government negotiates or caps prices more aggressively. Here, that pressure is weaker, so companies can charge more.

Then there are the middlemen — insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, and pharmacy chains — all taking their cut or shaping the deal. That can make the whole thing messy and expensive.

So yeah: fewer brakes on pricing, slower competition, and a complicated system. That's why meds can hit hard in America.

• Why do your prescription drugs cost so much? - Harvard Health
• Prescription Drug Spending Why Is the U.S. an Outlier?
• Amanpour and Company | The US Pays Some of the Highest Drug Prices in the World. Can Trump Fix That? | Season 2025

it absolutely has something to do with lobbying — and maybe not “dark money” in the spooky-movie sense, but definitely big money influence.

Pharma has spent billions on lobbying and hundreds of millions on campaign contributions over time, and studies say that money is used to influence legislative and election outcomes and can counteract efforts to lower drug prices.

So drug prices are high partly because the industry fights hard to keep the rules friendly to them. That’s lobbying. “Dark money” is a more specific claim, but I wouldn’t overstate it without evidence for a particular case.

• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2762509
• Lobbying Expenditures and Campaign Contributions by the Pharmaceutical and Health Product Industry in the United States, 1999-2018 - PMC

Yeah, that’s the gist.

Congress and regulators made the system, and drug companies play it to the max. When the rules reward high prices, patent games, and slow competition, the burden lands on patients.

So the pain shows up as:

• higher out-of-pocket costs
• people skipping meds
• families choosing between pills and rent
• less trust in the whole system

Real talk: the system’s built in a way that can favor profit over access, and consumers get squeezed.