Trump pushes 'Most Favoured Nation' plan to slash US drug prices, defends tariff policy

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) said he aimed to cut pharmaceutical drug prices through the "Most Favoured Nation" prescription drug pricing plan.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Trump said the US would pay the lowest drug prices, similar to those in European nations.

"We want the same price as Europe gets. We want the same price as other countries get ... We will pay as low as the lowest nation in the world. The next big move is going to be the price of drugs because you could buy something in London or in Germany... sometimes 1/10th the price of what it costs to buy it in New York... We're not doing that anymore," he said.


Trump has been pressuring major drugmakers to align US drug prices with those available abroad, but industry experts told CNN they do not expect pharmaceutical companies to comply.

On Thursday, Trump sent letters to CEOs of 17 major pharmaceutical firms, demanding they extend "Most Favoured Nation" pricing—the lowest price paid for a drug in a peer country—to all drugs supplied to Medicaid enrollees. He gave the companies 60 days to comply.

This directive follows an executive order Trump signed in May, requiring drugmakers to offer lower prices to US patients or face penalties.

Meanwhile, Trump defended his tariff policy, saying it would help reduce national debt. "We're going to pay down debt. We have a lot of money coming in, much more money than the country's ever seen, by hundreds of billions of dollars... we should've done this many years ago," he said.