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drug prices
TrumpRx Denounced as Corrupt Scheme to Line Pockets of Big Pharma—and Don Jr.
"Trump has dressed up yet another corporate giveaway as a boon to patients," said one watchdog. "Real drug price reform doesn’t look like a website."
Feb 06, 2026
US President Donald Trump on Thursday launched a website, branded with his name, in a purported effort to help patients buy prescription drugs at lower prices.
But experts, watchdog groups, and Democratic lawmakers said TrumpRx will likely do little for consumers—or for the broader goal of bringing down exorbitant medicine costs—while further enriching Big Pharma and potentially lining the pockets of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
TrumpRx.gov, launched in partnership with pharmaceutical giants, points users to direct-to-patient sales platforms hosted by drug companies to facilitate the purchase of an extremely limited selection of medications. For example, TrumpRx's listing for Farxiga links users to AstraZeneca Direct, where patients can pay out of pocket for the type 2 diabetes medication.
Donald Trump Jr. is on the board of BlinkRx, a prescription drug platform that stands to benefit from the Trump administration's promotion of direct-to-patient medicine sales. In December, the president's son reportedly met with top drug company executives and administration officials responsible for regulating the pharmaceutical industry—a gathering hosted by BlinkRx.
Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement Thursday that TrumpRx "not only threatens patients’ health, safety, and privacy, but also likely includes kickback schemes designed to enrich President Trump, his family, and their friends."
"TrumpRx has been shrouded in secrecy from the beginning because the administration clearly does not want anyone to know it likely won’t save patients money," said Pallone. "However, we do know Trump only slaps his name on things when there’s something in it for him."
Last week, a group of Democratic senators sent a letter to the inspector general of the US Department of Health and Human Services warning that "without stricter safeguards before its official launch, TrumpRx could be used as a potential vehicle for unlawful kickback schemes that result in excessive costs for the federal government."
In addition to sending users to direct-to-patient sales sites, TrumpRx offers Trump-branded coupons for some medications. To obtain a coupon, site users must accept terms that state: "You agree that by redeeming this coupon, you (and anyone else acting on your behalf) agree not to seek reimbursement from any insurance plan for out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions purchased with this coupon. You also agree not to count the cost of prescriptions toward your deductible or true out-of-pocket costs."
The Washington Post reported that pharmaceutical companies "have agreed to list their drugs on TrumpRx.gov."
"TrumpRx is designed to help Big Pharma keep its prices high by diluting the bargaining power of insurance companies, weakening an important check on pharma."
Experts warned that patients who use TrumpRx could end up paying more for their medications than if they pursued other available options.
"TrumpRx’s offerings are very limited, fewer than 50 drugs listed, and most are niche products used by few patients," Rena Conti, an associate professor at Boston University, told ABC News. "Many are available in generic form at even lower prices or already available to consumers at low or even very low prices elsewhere. This suggests it pays for consumers to check their insurance coverage and ask their regular doctor or pharmacist before they use this service."
Peter Maybarduk, access to medicines director at Public Citizen, offered a more scathing assessment of TrumpRx, saying the president has "dressed up yet another corporate giveaway as a boon to patients."
"Most patients will do better through their insurance than through TrumpRx. Many patients without insurance will not be able to afford drugmakers’ still-high prices funneled through TrumpRx," said Maybarduk. "But drugmakers certainly will appreciate TrumpRx’s free promotion of their products, delivered with a false veneer of price accountability. TrumpRx is designed to help Big Pharma keep its prices high by diluting the bargaining power of insurance companies, weakening an important check on pharma."
“TrumpRx also appears to be another example of this president’s repeated corruption," he continued. "Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., sits on the board of BlinkRx, a key business that may benefit financially from TrumpRx. Getting serious about medicine affordability means getting serious about challenging Big Pharma. For all Trump’s talk, Big Pharma is getting a lot of special favors from this White House, while patients still are waiting. Real drug price reform doesn’t look like a website."
Throughout his second White House term, Trump has made outlandish promises to cut drug costs and hosted top executives at the White House to tout splashy deals—only for pharmaceutical giants to continue jacking up prices. Reuters reported last month that drugmakers planned to "raise US prices on at least 350 branded medications, including vaccines against Covid, RSV, and shingles and blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance" in 2026.
Merith Basey, CEO of Patients for Affordable Drugs Now, said in a statement that the Trump administration's "voluntary agreements" with drug companies "lack clear enforcement mechanisms and still put the power to set and increase prices firmly in the hands of pharmaceutical corporations."
"Patients in our community will soon learn if they can reliably access these discounts at the pharmacy counter, where the program will ultimately be tested and where affordability matters most," Basey said of TrumpRx.
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As Trump Claims He's Slashing Costs, Big Pharma Jacks Up Prices on 350 Drugs
One critic charged that Trump's earlier deals with pharmaceutical companies "just nibble around the margins in terms of what is really driving high prices for prescription drugs in the US."
Dec 31, 2025
President Donald Trump in recent months has made ludicrously false claims about his administration slashing prescription drug prices in the US by as much as 600%, which would entail pharmaceutical companies paying people to use their products.
In reality, reported Reuters on Wednesday, drugmakers are planning to raise prices on hundreds of drugs in 2026.
Citing data from healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors, Reuters wrote that at least 350 branded medications are set for price hikes next year, including "vaccines against COVID, RSV, and shingles," as well as the "blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance."
The total projected number of drugs seeing price increases next year is significantly higher than in 2025, when 3 Axis Advisors estimated that pharmaceutical companies raised prices on 250 medications.
The median price increase for drugs next year is projected at 4%, roughly the same as in 2025.
Reuters also found that some of the companies raising prices on their drugs are the same ones who struck deals with Trump to lower the costs of a limited number of prescriptions earlier this year, including Novartis, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and GSK.
In announcing the deals with the pharmaceutical companies, Trump declared that "starting next year, American drug prices will come down fast and furious and will soon be the lowest in the developed world."
But Dr. Benjamin Rome, a health policy researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, told Reuters that the projected savings for Americans under the Trump deals are a drop in the bucket compared with the continued price hikes on other drugs.
"These deals are being announced as transformative when, in fact, they really just nibble around the margins in terms of what is really driving high prices for prescription drugs in the US," Rome explained.
Merith Basey, CEO of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, a patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on lowering the cost of medications, also said she was unimpressed by Trump's deals with drugmakers.
"Voluntary agreements with drug companies—especially when key details remain undisclosed—are no substitute for durable, system-wide reforms," she said earlier this month. "Patients are overwhelmingly calling on Congress to do more to lower prescription drug prices by holding Big Pharma accountable and addressing the root causes of high drug prices, because drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them."
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'This Is Pathetic': Flailing Trump Defends Economic Agenda as Approval Tanks and Costs Rise
"No matter how he tries to spin it, everything is getting more expensive and the American people are hurting."
Dec 18, 2025
US President Donald Trump tried desperately to defend his stewardship of the nation's economy in a primetime address Wednesday night as prices continued to rise, unemployment jumped to a level not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic, and job growth slowed to a halt.
Consistent with his administration's recent efforts to downplay negative economic data and opinion polling, Trump falsely declared in his televised address that he is bringing "high prices down and bringing them down very fast," blaming his predecessor for economic pain that voters—including a growing share of the president's—have increasingly pinned on the current occupant of the Oval Office.
Trump had fact-checkers working furiously to keep up as he repeated lie after lie, claiming grocery prices—which are up this year—are "falling rapidly," a narrative sure to anger Americans who are skipping meals and tapping into their dwindling savings to make ends meet.
The president also asserted that he has pushed down drug prices by up to 600% as many Americans skip doses of their medications and cut pills in half to save money. Trump went on to decry the "steep increase in [health insurance] premiums being demanded by the Democrats," a false description of premium hikes stemming from Republicans' refusal to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.
In an effort to bolster Trump's distorted depiction of the US economy, the White House reportedly provided major television networks with graphics designed to give the president's claims about falling prices the sheen of legitimacy. But the networks, with the predictable exception of Fox News, rebuffed White House pressure to use the slides because the data they showed was not clearly sourced.
"No matter how he tries to spin it, everything is getting more expensive and the American people are hurting," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.). "Our government should be working to lower costs, not pointing fingers and making excuses."
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) characterized the speech as further evidence that Trump is unfit for office.
"25th Amendment, folks," Pocan wrote on social media. "This is pathetic."
Very bizarre to give a victory lap speech when your numbers look like this pic.twitter.com/tW8bXYcjRj
— Alex Jacquez (@AlexSJacquez) December 18, 2025
With his economic approval rating at a new low, Trump tried to assuage angry Americans with promises of economic rewards in the near future, including a $1,776 "warrior dividend" for some military service members, purportedly funded by revenue from tariffs—which have driven up prices for US consumers.
A Joint Economic Committee analysis released this week estimates that "in just 10 months, the average American family has already paid nearly $1,200 in tariff costs, with the costs climbing steadily since the beginning of President Trump’s second term."
Trump also celebrated the sprawling budget package that he signed into law over the summer, enacting the largest cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in US history while delivering more tax breaks to the rich.
"Next year, you will also see the results of the largest tax cuts in American history that were really accomplished through our great Big, Beautiful Bill, perhaps the most sweeping legislation ever passed in Congress," Trump boasted.
Bloomberg noted earlier this week that "most taxpayers will likely see only a modest boost that will do little to assuage their pocketbook concerns," and that "wealthy taxpayers in high-tax states like California, New York, and New Jersey are the biggest winners."
Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement following the president's address that "Donald Trump tried to sell us all a shit sandwich, desperate to convince the American people (and even convince himself) that he isn't a complete and utter failure."
"Let's summarize Trump's first year back in office: He skyrocketed prices with his chaotic trade war, triggered mass layoffs, and priced millions out of healthcare—all while digging through the pockets of taxpayers to give massive tax cuts to CEOs and billionaires," said Martin. "All he seems to care about is his $400 million ballroom to entertain his ultrawealthy donors."
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