Trump gives drug companies deadline to lower ‘abusive’ prices

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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump sent 17 letters to pharmaceutical companies on Thursday in an effort to reduce drug prices for Americans.

Trump gives companies deadline to lower drug prices

What they're saying:

In a White House press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump sent out letters following an executive order earlier this year. 

"The president signed an executive order earlier this year to solve the problem of exorbitant pharmaceutical pricing," Leavitt said. "According to recent data, the prices that Americans have been paying for brand name drugs are more than three times the price other similar, similarly developed nations pay. The president is determined to solve this problem and took further action today. He has signed 17 letters to pharmaceutical companies' CEOs."

She read one of letters Trump wrote to the CEO of Eli Lilly. Trump also began posting copies of each letter to his social media platform, Truth Social. 

Medications are stored on shelves at a pharmacy on May 12, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. U.S. President Donald Trump today signed an executive order aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals by 30% to 80%. Trump announce

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According to the letter, the order is intended to "stop global freeloading and guarantee that Americans pay the same prices enjoyed by other developed nations."

"This unacceptable burden on hardworking American families ends with my administration," Trump wrote, according to Leavitt. "The only thing I will accept from drug manufacturers is a commitment that provides American families immediate relief from the vastly inflated drug prices, and an end to the free ride of American innovation by European and other developed nations."

Trump gives drug companies 60 days to make changes

Dig deeper:

Accordingly, Trump called on the drug companies and manufacturers doing business to guarantee most favored nation pricing for newly launched drugs and Medicaid with the next 60 days, return increased revenues abroad to American patients and taxpayers, and provide for direct purchasing at most favored nation pricing.

Trump said his team, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, stands ready to implement the terms. The president said he expects Ricks to further engage with Kennedy and Oz "immediately in good faith to deliver relief for American families."

The president also said he expects binding commitments to each of his listed goals by Sept. 29, deeming the calls to action a "vital national priority." 

Sixteen other companies received similar letters from Trump. They were: AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, Gilead Sciences, Inc., EMD Serono, Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca, Amgen, Genentech, Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Merck, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Sanofi.

Trump signs executive order to push for lower drug prices

The backstory:

Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order that directed his health department to work toward lowering the price of prescription drugs.

The order called for lowering the price of Medicare prescription drugs and providing "massive discounts" to patients with low-income for life-saving medication. 

The order also instructed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to standardize Medicare payments for prescription drugs, including those used for cancer patients, no matter where a patient receives treatment. This could lower prices for patients by as much as 60%, according to a White House fact sheet.

Likewise, the order called to match the Medicare payment for certain prescription drugs to the price that hospitals pay for those drugs, up to 35% lower than what the government pays to acquire those medications, the White House said.

RELATED: Trump executive order targets prescription drug prices

The order also called for lowering insulin prices for low-income patients or those who are uninsured to as little as 3 cents and injectable epinephrine for treating allergic reactions to as low as $15, coupled with a "small administrative fee," according to the fact sheet.

Additionally, the order aimed to lower states’ drug prices by "facilitating importation programs that could save states millions in prescription drug prices," as well as bolstering programs that assist states secure deals on sickle-cell medications in Medicaid, the fact sheet said.