US Politics
Trump mocked by ‘Stocktwits’ X account after his claim that drug prices have fallen by ‘700%’
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A social media platform catering to investors, traders, and entrepreneurs mocked President Donald Trump from its official X account after he claimed that drug prices were falling by “700%” in a Truth Social post.
Trump boasted that his administration’s work in the past year, to secure deals with companies including Pfizer and AstraZeneca to lower prices on some drugs sold in the U.S. to levels comparable with other nations, would result in savings for millions of Americans.
“Because I have invoked FAVORED NATIONS STATUS FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DRUG PRICES ARE FALLING AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more,” the president wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, Saturday.
Above a screenshot of Trump’s post, the account for Stocktwits wrote: “Math is hard, $DJT.”
The maximum that any amount can be reduced by is 100 percent of its current value at any given time.
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Stocktwits was co-founded in 2008 by investor and analyst Howard Linzon and Soren Macbeth. Linzon is a critic of Trump on his own social media feed, and in May wrote that Trump was “selling” the U.S. off to Qatari interests.
While Trump’s calculations are definitely incorrect, the president’s declaration alongside business leaders in the pharmaceutical industry in late September turned heads.
At the time, the White House declared that “most favored nation” pricing levels would bring down the costs of drugs for many Americans on Medicaid. In exchange, the White House granted companies relief from tariffs.
Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla noted the deal in statement.
“We’ve agreed to a three-year grace period during which time Pfizer products under a Section 232 investigation won’t face tariffs, provided we further invest in manufacturing in the United States,” Bourla said, in a press release.
“Additionally, we’ve established a balanced global pricing approach that continues to recognize the value of innovation while ensuring prices in the U.S. and other developed countries are both reasonable and sustainable, maintaining the strength of the U.S. market alongside other developed nations.”
The Trump administration also announced in early November that it had reached a deal with two drug makers to lower prices of popular GLP-1 diabetes medications for Americans on Medicare and Medicaid, as well as for purchases set up through the administration’s TrumpRx platform.
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But the White House’s successes still pale in comparison to the cliff that Republicans face in the form of expiring federal subsidies for plans on the Obamacare public exchanges at the end of the year.
Estimates project that millions of Americans will face monthly premium increases of hundreds and, for larger plans, thousands of dollars in 2026 unless the administration and Congress take action to renew funding for those plans passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022.
The White House initially planned to release a bill to renew those subsidies for two years with new income limits, but heavy resistance from the House GOP caucus forced the administration to put off releasing a plan before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Now, Republicans have one month remaining until that deadline hits – and millions see huge healthcare premium spikes hit less than 12 months before the midterm elections.
