Trump White House Celebrates Prescription Drug Prices Falling 3.1%, Steepest Drop Since 1963

President Trump’s White House is celebrating a historic decline in prescription drug prices, pointing to new inflation data showing costs fell 3.1% over the past year, the largest annual drop in more than six decades.

The decline was recorded during the 12 months ending in July, according to federal inflation data. Prescription drug prices also dropped 0.8% from June to July, marking the third consecutive monthly decline.

The White House credited Trump’s aggressive campaign against pharmaceutical companies, declaring that the president promised Americans lower prescription costs and has delivered. Administration officials specifically pointed to Trump’s Most Favored Nation pricing policies and negotiations with major drugmakers.

Trump has pushed pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring American prices closer to what patients pay in other developed countries. His administration used the threat of major tariffs as leverage while negotiating agreements with companies to reduce prices on certain medications.

The administration also launched TrumpRx, a platform designed to give Americans paying out of pocket access to discounted prescription drugs. The program initially offered dozens of brand-name medications before expanding to include hundreds of generic drugs.

Several major pharmaceutical companies have reached agreements with the administration. Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Regeneron are among the companies that have struck Most Favored Nation pricing arrangements tying certain American prices to lower prices available in other wealthy countries.

Some of the discounts have been substantial. Pfizer agreed to sharply reduce cash prices on several medications through TrumpRx, while the administration has also highlighted reductions involving popular diabetes and weight-loss medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

Trump has increasingly made prescription drug costs a central part of his economic message heading into the November midterm elections. He has argued that Republicans should aggressively campaign on falling drug prices and portray the reductions as evidence that confronting pharmaceutical companies can produce direct savings for Americans.

There remains disagreement over exactly what produced the historic decline. Some health policy analysts have pointed to Medicare drug-price negotiations enacted under Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act as another factor, while the Trump White House has strongly rejected attempts to credit the previous administration. Independent analysis indicates multiple policies and changes in the pharmaceutical market could be contributing to the decline.

Other health care expenses are still moving in the opposite direction. Hospital services increased 5.2% over the same 12-month period, while physician services rose 2.4%, meaning falling prescription costs have not translated into lower prices throughout the entire health care system.

Still, the prescription drug numbers give Trump a powerful statistic to take to voters. With prices falling 3.1% over the past year and recording their steepest annual decline since 1963, the White House is presenting the numbers as evidence that Trump’s pressure campaign against Big Pharma is beginning to pay off.