In an interview with Fox News Thursday, President Donald Trump claimed that over the next year to a year and a half, drug costs in the U.S. will be reduced — “not 50 or 60 percent but by 1000 percent.”
He elaborated using an example: a $10 pill could go to $20 under some “world” pricing, and then back to $20 for U.S. citizens — language that many found confusing and mathematically impossible to interpret literally.
"Because it's the world versus us, the world is the bigger place.. so it will go from 10 to 20… for them which is bearable. And it will go from 10 to 20 for us," the president said.
Last month, Trump sent letters to 17 pharmaceutical companies (e.g. Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck, etc.), giving them deadlines (60 days in one case) to commit to lowering U.S. drug prices. He is demanding that they offer their U.S. customers the same lowest levels they offer in other wealthy nations, or else face policy or regulatory tools.
One of the framing points Trump uses is that the U.S. is bearing much of the cost of drug development/pricing, because other countries pay much less. He argues those countries are “free riding” on the innovation paid for by Americans. His administration is demanding those foreign nations either pay more or stop forcing low prices that shift costs to U.S. consumers.
Meanwhile, Trump's Thursday remarks about a "1000 percent" reduction immediately drew widespread attention on social media, with users asking what the president meant.
Many users questioned what “1000% reduction” could possibly mean — since reducing something by more than 100 percent normally implies paying people rather than charging them.
Fred Wellman, a retired army officer and social enterpreanur wrote on the social platform X: "What does any of this mean?"
"Numbers are like jazz for the President; just throw something out there, whatever sounds right, and riff on it. Does it make any sense? Who cares!" wrote Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, an immigration analyst.
Edin Mujkic, a professor at the University of Colorado, wrote on X: "My head hurts from trying to understand this."
"This is unintelligible," wrote a user.
"Completely nonsensical," another wrote. "His brain is mush."