On May 5, 2026, the Trump administration published a report that estimated that President Donald Trump’s deals with pharmaceutical companies will save a staggering $529 billion over the next decade. One of the most important issues for Americans in recent election cycles is that of affordability, especially as it pertains to medical care and treatment.
In fact, it’s become so important that it could potentially determine if Republicans retain control over the House and Senate during the midterm elections. In response, Trump has spent a significant amount of time and effort on making deals with drug companies to ensure that the price of prescription drugs in the U.S. would no longer be significantly higher here than in other developed nations around the world.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers discovered that federal and state governments could save $64.3 billion on Medicaid over the next 10 years because of President Trump’s “most favored nation” drug policy. It’s estimated that Americans spent over $467 billion on prescription drugs in 2024. The analysis is based on the idea that foreign nations would also pay higher costs for prescription drugs.
This would diversify the sources of revenue for pharmaceutical companies and protect their ability to innovate and create new treatments. In October 2024, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that a plan similar to the one Trump adopted could ultimately drop the price of prescription medications by 5%, though the decrease “would probably diminish over time as manufacturers adjusted to the new policy by altering prices or distribution of drugs in other countries.”
“Now you have the lowest drug prices anywhere in the world,” Trump went on to say at a rally at a charter school in The Villages, Florida, Breitbart News reported. “And that alone should win us the midterms.” According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, the president, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, has stated that his drug-pricing deals are “transformative,” urging Congress to codify their principles into law.
Democrats have, of course, pushed back against the administration’s claims of savings. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) and 17 other Senate Democrats proposed a measure in April 2026 that would require the Trump administration to provide details on the terms of the agreements signed by pharmaceutical companies.
“If these deals are so great, why is the Trump administration afraid of showing them to the public?” Wyden asked as he unveiled the measure. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that his team would reveal the details that didn’t include proprietary information or trade secrets. The White House responded that they haven’t shared details because they include highly sensitive data that could impact financial markets.
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In April, staff members working for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put out their own analysis that took a look at 15 of the companies that have agreed to the president’s drug-pricing plan and stated that their combined profits went up by 66% over the last year. The administration pushed back, saying Sanders’ analysis was flawed because it is based on the list prices for drugs instead of actual prices that patients pay.