One of President Donald Trump’s signature 2024 campaign promises was to do something to help lower the cost of prescription drugs.
According to a Wednesday press release from the White House, not only has Trump succeeded, but he appears to have set a new record.
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Prescription drug prices have recorded their largest annual decline in more than six decades, providing the Trump administration with a major talking point as its Most-Favored-Nation drug-pricing initiative takes effect.
The latest federal inflation data show prescription drug prices continuing to fall, including a 0.8% decline in July alone.
The White House says prices have fallen 3.9% since Trump returned to office and describes the annual decline as the steepest since 1963.
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The administration attributes much of the decline to Trump’s Most-Favored-Nation policy, which is designed to bring prices paid by Americans closer to the lowest prices available in other developed countries.
Trump launched the initiative through a May 2025 executive order aimed at ending the longstanding disparity between what Americans pay for prescription medicines and prices charged for the same drugs overseas.
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Since then, the administration has reached voluntary pricing agreements with 17 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Those companies represent approximately 86% of the branded prescription drug market, according to the White House.
The agreements generally require participating manufacturers to provide American patients access to Most-Favored-Nation pricing on covered medicines and establish similar pricing for newly launched drugs.
The administration argues that the approach is ending a system in which American consumers effectively subsidized lower prescription prices in other wealthy countries by paying substantially higher prices at home.
The latest numbers give Trump fresh evidence to argue that one of his signature healthcare policies is beginning to deliver measurable savings for American patients, the White House said.
The Trump administration is also pointing to its TrumpRx platform as another major component of its effort to drive down prescription drug costs for American patients.
According to the White House, Americans have already saved more than $700 million on prescription medications through TrumpRx, which allows patients to access discounted cash prices negotiated with participating pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Some of the most dramatic reductions involve GLP-1 medications, which previously could carry monthly list prices exceeding $1,000.
Under the administration’s agreements, certain treatments are now available to eligible cash-paying patients at prices starting around $149, depending on the medication and dosage.
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The administration has also announced substantial discounts on fertility medications, insulin, inhalers, cholesterol treatments and dozens of other prescription drugs.
For some medicines, advertised cash-price reductions range from 50% to 90% or more compared with previous list prices, the administration’s release noted.
Trump has made prescription drug costs a centerpiece of his healthcare agenda, arguing that Americans should no longer be forced to pay substantially more for the same medicines than patients in other developed countries.
TrumpRx was launched by the president in February.
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Under the deals, drugmakers agree to offer Americans the same or lower prices than those charged to patients abroad — a significant shift after decades of higher domestic pricing.
“Last night, President Trump delivered on a core promise to the American people — ending the era where Americans pay far more for the same drugs than patients overseas,” the White House said in a statement at the time.
“TrumpRx means lower prices at the pharmacy counter, starting now.”
Trump framed the announcement as a long-awaited breakthrough.
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“For years, politicians from both parties have promised to bring down prescription drug prices and make health care more affordable, but they all failed,” Trump said at a White House presser.
“It’s the biggest thing to happen in health care, I think, in many, many decades,” the president added.
Unlike Medicare or private pharmacy benefit programs, TrumpRx does not sell drugs directly. Instead, the website connects patients with manufacturers who have signed onto the pricing agreements.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
