Watchdog Calls Trump Drug Pricing Deals "Mirage," Alleges Favors to Pharma.

New details about President Donald Trump's secret deal with drug companies have emerged, leading watchdogs to call the promised public benefit a mirage.

Documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits reveal pharmaceutical companies were induced to raise drug prices abroad and promised protection from Trump's tariffs in return. Peter Maybarduk, Access to Medicines Director for Public Citizen, stated Trump’s drug pricing deals are designed to convince Americans that he’s taken action on drug pricing while creating minimal if any downside for Big Pharma.

Maybarduk added the texts show Trump handing out favors to Big Pharma, undercutting his own models to lower prices, and throwing the support of the U.S. government behind corporate decisions to deny medicines entirely to other countries. Pfizer and Eli Lilly, which agreed to cut some U.S. prices last year, promoted the agreement before final terms.

Trump announced Friday that Most Favored Nation (MFN) prices on prescription drugs are being extended to Medicaid programs in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates this will save Medicaid over $64 billion over a relatively short period, with Trump suggesting it could be $100 billion.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, said, "We are rescuing state budgets with this program." The administration has signed agreements with 26 drugmakers, covering 90% of the branded U.S. market, to bring U.S. prices in line with the lowest paid by comparable developed nations. These broader agreements are projected to save Americans more than $600 billion.