During a White House event launching TrumpRx, a prescription drug cost-cutting initiative, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sneezed near President Trump, prompting the president to joke, “Give me a Paxlovid immediately.” The light moment recalled early COVID-19 fears, adding humor to the announcement of Trump’s plan to lower drug prices.
The deal is part of Trump’s broader effort to tie the amount the government pays for certain drugs to the prices paid overseas.
The White House is preparing to roll out a direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRX, which will allow Americans to buy prescription drugs directly from the government at discounted rates. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that the announcement will be coupled with a cost-cutting deal between the administration and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, reported the Wall Street Journal.
The report added that the TrumpRx platform will let people pay cash for certain medications with prices negotiated by the federal government. Officials said this platform could give millions of Americans access to cheaper drugs, though questions remain over how useful the service will be for those already covered by private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.
What Is TrumpRx?
TrumpRx is a new government-run website designed to let Americans purchase prescription drugs directly from manufacturers at discounted prices. The platform is part of Trump’s long-standing goal to lower drug costs and make medications more accessible.
TrumpRx will enable consumers to pay cash for select medications through a government-operated website, TrumpRx.gov, thereby bypassing traditional insurance and pharmacy middlemen. Pfizer, one of the first major pharmaceutical companies to join the initiative, has agreed to offer many of its drugs on the site at significantly reduced rates, ranging from 50% to 100% off, with most discounts averaging around 50% and reaching as high as 85%.
The White House stated that some of the initial drugs available will include Eucrisa (for dermatitis), Xeljanz (for rheumatoid arthritis), and Zavzpret (for migraines). The complete list of drugs and prices remains partially confidential.
In a separate agreement, Pfizer will also offer all of its drugs to Medicaid at “most favored nation” pricing, comparable to the lowest prices offered in other developed countries. In exchange, Pfizer receives a three-year exemption from national-security-related tariffs, provided it invests in U.S.-based manufacturing.
The Trump administration anticipates launching the TrumpRx website in early 2026.
Discount website would be for patients not using insurance
Other countries mostly pay less for brand-name prescription drugs than the U.S. because they have government health systems that set drug prices. By and large, the U.S. doesn’t set prices, so the drug companies can charge what the market will bear.
The website deals would only be accessible for patients not using their health insurance, according to one of the government officials briefing reporters anonymously. And even then, the discounted medicines might not be affordable because they’re based on high drug list prices. Consumers with health insurance could very well pay less at the pharmacy counter.
.@POTUS announces that @pfizer has agreed to offer countless prescription medications in the U.S. at major discounts as a result of his Most Favored Nation drug pricing order earlier this year pic.twitter.com/4M5KdeYHCq
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 30, 2025
As a result, the average consumer likely will not benefit from the Trump administration’s deal, says Ameet Sarpatwari, an assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School who specializes in pharmaceutical policy.
“I think it’s more underwhelming than what the president is touting,” he says. “I think it’s more window dressing than the transformational sort of reforms that are needed to really provide relief to Americans struggling with high prices.”
Pfizer CEO Bourla also pledged to launch new drugs at the same price in the U.S. as in other developed countries, and to offer drugs to Medicaid at most-favored-nation pricing, drawing praise from the Trump administration officials for being the first CEO to strike a deal. “He really created a template for corporate responsibility, for putting public health ahead of his individual interests,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Medicaid drug prices are already low
Sarpatwari says that since Medicaid often pays low prices for drugs anyway, and Medicaid beneficiaries pay very little for drugs, it’s unclear whether this deal would benefit them or save taxpayers much money.
“It is an environment where you can pretend to make significant changes that actually don’t meaningfully improve the prices that Americans will pay for their drugs,” Sarpatwari says.
Tuesday’s announcement follows the Trump Administration’s executive order in May to lower drug prices. The president had promised to make other countries pay more for drugs. “So we’re going to come down a lot, but the world is going to go up a little bit,” he said during Tuesday’s media briefing, explaining that it would make global drug prices more fair.
Over the summer, the Trump administration said it wasn’t satisfied with what it was hearing from drug companies, so it sent letters to 17 of them with a list of demands–including lowering prices in Medicaid and launching new drugs at prices that match what people in other countries are paying. It also included selling drugs directly to consumers at lower prices.
Drugmakers had 60 days to do this voluntarily, or, the letter stated, “if you refuse to step up, we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices.”
The bargaining included the threat of tariffs stemming from an ongoing investigation into whether pharmaceutical imports posed a threat to national security. The deal with Pfizer includes a three-year grace period from those tariffs, and its CEO said the company would invest $70 billion to reshore manufacturing of drugs sold domestically. Of tariffs, Bourla said, the “president is absolutely right. It is the most powerful tool to motivate behaviors.”
Selling directly to consumers
In addition to matching global pricing, Trump has become enamored with trying to lower prices by having drugmakers sell their products directly to consumers. He did not provide many details on the TrumpRx site in his news conference, though a White House fact sheet indicated the price break would be off a drug’s list price, which is before other discounts and rebates are applied.
Several manufacturers have already set up channels where US patients can buy medications without going through insurance.
For instance, Novo Nordisk announced last month that US patients can now get a month’s supply of Ozempic, the blockbuster diabetes drug, for $499, for those who pay for medications on their own and don’t go through insurance. The company is making Ozempic, which carries a list price of just under $1,000 per month, available at its NovoCare Pharmacy, which ships medications directly to cash-paying consumers.
On Monday, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, known as PhRMA, rolled out AmericasMedicines.com, a website that will connect patients with drug companies’ direct-purchase programs. It noted Trump’s call for such offerings.
“Some manufacturers are responding by offering new direct purchase programs that are more convenient and can save patients time and money — no hidden markups or fees and transparent pricing for patients and businesses,” PhRMA said in a statement.
However, several drug industry experts threw cold water on the idea of consumers getting better deals via TrumpRx.
“New Trump drug website is likely irrelevant as few will pay out of pocket” unless there are changes in insurance policies, Chris Meekins, managing director of health policy research at Raymond James, wrote in a note to clients.
Most of the medicines the White House touted don’t appear to be used very often in the US, Stacie Dusetzina, a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN. Xeljanz, which is used for rheumatoid arthritis, appears to be an outlier, Dusetzina said, but noted it appears likely to face generic competition beginning next year – meaning lower-priced copies could soon be available.
Moreover, the drug’s list price exceeds $6,000 a month, according to Pfizer. The White House said the TrumpRx discount will be 40%, meaning patients could then pay about $3,600 a month for the drug.
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