Trump claims first-term record on cutting prescription drug prices in chart post
Trump the president shared a Council of Economic Advisers chart showing prescription drug prices falling in the first 18 months of his second term, the only decline among presidents since Nixon.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump claimed the mantle of the first president to lower prescription drug prices in a Truth Social post on July 17, 2026 at 3:36 PM ET.
The post carried a bar chart titled “The First President to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices,” tracking the change in the prescription drug Consumer Price Index over the first 18 months of each presidential term since Richard Nixon. The chart drew on a Council of Economic Advisers analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, according to the note printed on the graphic.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “The First President to Bring Down Prescription Drug Prices Change in prescription drug CPI, first 18 months of the presidential term 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% -5% Nixon Nixon Carter Note: CEA analysis of BLS data. Reagan Reagan Bush 41 Clinton Clinton Bush 43 Bush 43 Obama ешедо Trump 45 Biden Trump 47”
The chart singles out the current Trump term as the only one with a negative reading, near minus 3%. Every other bar sits above the zero line. Reagan’s first term shows the steepest rise, near 17%, followed by Bush 41 near 14% and Carter near 10.5%. Trump’s first term, marked Trump 45, registers near 3.5%, while Biden’s term shows about 1.5%.
The Consumer Price Index measures the average change over time in prices paid by consumers, and its prescription drug component tracks what Americans pay at the pharmacy counter, according to bls.gov. Lower readings translate into slower price growth or outright price cuts on medicines.
Falling drug prices would matter most to older Americans and patients with chronic conditions who fill the most prescriptions. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers stand to absorb the pressure when list prices move lower. Insurers and federal programs such as Medicare, which negotiates prices for selected drugs under a 2022 law, also shape what patients ultimately pay, according to cms.gov.
Has this happened before? The chart’s own framing answers no, positioning the current term as the first with a decline across more than five decades of data. Each administration since Nixon presided over rising prescription drug prices during its opening 18 months, based on the CEA reading shown in the graphic. Congress addressed drug costs through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which capped insulin costs at $35 a month for Medicare beneficiaries and authorized federal price negotiation, according to congress.gov.
The next move rests with federal officials at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversee drug pricing rules and negotiation timelines, according to hhs.gov. No date for further pricing decisions tied to the claim in the post has been announced.
In the last 30 days, 60 of 501 Trump posts fell under the topic “Domestic Policy.”
Presidents have long promised relief on medicine costs without delivering the drop shown here. Nixon imposed nationwide wage and price controls in August 1971 in a bid to tame inflation, according to britannica.com. The controls loosened within two years, and consumer prices, including medical goods, climbed sharply through the mid-1970s, a reminder that presidential pledges on prices have often outlasted the results.
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