Trump announced a historic deal with Pfizer on Tuesday to lower drug prices in the United States. A key decision combining health, economics, and political battles

Donald Trump announced Tuesday at the White House an unprecedented agreement with Pfizer to lower the price of certain drugs sold in the United States. Presented as a "historic victory," this compromise combines the promise of reduced prices for patients with the threat of trade sanctions, two levers that the president has been wielding insistently for several months.

The cost of medications has long been one of the black spots of the American healthcare system. According to the Rand Corporation, Americans pay on average 2.5 times more than the French for their prescriptions, a gap denounced by public opinion and exploited by Democrats. By taking up this issue, Donald Trump wants to show that he is taking action where his opponents have failed. "We will now pay the lowest prices," he promised to the press.

Trump accuses Democrats

The agreement comes as budget negotiations are at an impasse, with some lawmakers accusing the president of not doing enough to control health care costs. The White House, for its part, is claiming a major political victory. "President Trump is doing more than anyone in Washington to reduce health care costs," his deputy spokesman insisted, quoted by CBS News, accusing Democrats of "decades of talk and no action."

Behind this agreement lies an aggressive economic strategy. Since the spring, Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on all imported patented drugs as of October 1, unless laboratories repatriate their production to the United States. This negotiating weapon, according to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, directly influenced the group's decision. "Tariffs are the most powerful tool for motivating behavior, and they clearly motivated ours," he acknowledged.

Savings promised, but still unclear

In exchange for a three-year exemption from these tariffs, Pfizer has agreed to reduce the price of several of its treatments for Medicaid, the program aimed at low-income Americans. Some of these drugs will also be offered at reduced prices directly to patients via a government website called "TrumpRx." While Donald Trump claims that some reductions could reach "50 to 100%," resulting in "hundreds of millions of dollars in savings each year," neither the White House nor Pfizer have yet released the precise list of drugs affected. The announcements therefore leave some uncertainty.

This agreement has already had its first tangible impact: Pfizer's stock jumped 5% on Wall Street, a sign that the markets see it as an opportunity rather than a constraint. On the political front, Donald Trump can now present his voters with concrete progress on an issue where broken promises had marked his first term. For his part, Albert Bourla affirmed that the agreement put an end to an "unfair situation" where "Americans have had to bear disproportionate costs."