Trump Unwittingly Reveals Backwards Math Behind Claim He Cut Drug Prices by More Than 100%

President Donald Trump finally shed some light on his frequent claim that he has somehow helped reduce some drug prices by more than 100%.

Trump has repeatedly insisted he has – or will at some point – succeed in reducing the price of certain drugs to an amount that is lower than what they cost. In August, for example, the president said, “I will tell you that we are going to be doing numbers on the cost of drugs in this country, that it’s — I’m not talking about a 20% decrease, which would be good. I’m talking about 1,000% decrease.”

Two months later, Trump claimed, “Now drug prices are going to be going down 100%, 400%, 600%, a thousand percent in some cases.”

The president has repeated such figures numerous times. There is, however, obviously something amiss here, since cutting the price of a drug by 100% would make it free. Moreover, cutting the price of a drug by more than 100% would mean, presumably, that whoever is selling the drug would pay customers to take it off their hands.

On Thursday, Trump delivered remarks at the launch of TrumpRx, which the president said will help Americans buy drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies, and at lower prices.

“In many cases, the drug costs will go up by double or even triple for [other countries], but they’re going way down for the United States,” Trump said. “Come all the way down by a difference of as much as 300, 400, 500, and even 600%, even more than that in some cases.”

The president then got specific by listing several price changes he said are coming to certain drugs:

Novo Nordisk will be slashing the pirce – as an example – of Ozempic from more than $1,000 to $199. And the price of WeGovy from more than $1,300 to $199. Nobody could even believe it. A 578% difference.

Eli Lilly, who has been very helpful to us in getting this done, will be cutting the cost of its common insulin, drug, and medication from $200 to $25. Nobody can believe it, $200 to $25. Astrazeneca slashing the price common inhaler from $458 to $51, a difference of nearly 800%.

Trump’s calculation of percentages is exactly backwards. For example, if the price of WeGovy, a weight loss drug, drops from $1,300 to $199, that is a decrease of 85%, not a 578% decrease, as he claimed. But if the initial price were $199 and increased to $1,300, that would be a 553% increase, which is a lot closer to the figure the president claimed. Similarly, if the price of an Astrazeneca inhaler goes from $458 to $51, that’s a cut of 89%, not “nearly 800%.” But if the price increased from $51 to $458, then it would be a 798% rise, or “nearly 800%,” as Trump said.

Although Trump described the decreases as a “difference,” his percentages would only be accurate in the context of prices that are rising, not falling.

Watch above via Fox News.

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