Trump Flexes His Tariff Power, Recalls Forcing Macron’s Hand on Prescription Drug Prices

President Trump revealed just how effective his tariff power can be Thursday, showing how he strong-armed French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders of more than a dozen other countries to grant the United States the Most Favored Nation rate for prescription drug pricing. 

“He said, ‘No, I won’t do that, Donald. You are asking me to double the cost of our prescription. We will not do that,'” President Trump said of the French president.

I mean, look, you’ve been ripping us off for decades; we are not going to do that anymore. You can do it under Biden, Obama, and other people. You’re not going to do that under us. We won’t do it. I said ‘Well, if you don’t do it, I’m going to charge you a 25 percent tariff on all of your wine, champagne, and everything else you’re selling to the United States.

“He said, ‘Like I said, I will do it,'” Trump recalled.

“That was the end of the conversation, right?” President Trump asked. “That was the end of the conversation. So now we have [Most] Faovred Nations [drug pricing]. Everybody said it would be impossible to get. And I then had the same conversation with 15 other countries, and every one of them agreed after a short conversation.”

“They all said no,” Trump said. “And then within a matter of seconds, they said, ‘We would be very happy to do that, thank you for asking in such a nice way.'”

This comes as the Supreme Court weighs whether President Trump has the authority to impose tariffs as broadly as he has. The president has warned that a ruling against his authority would harm the country and undo the trillions of dollars in U.S. investment promised by foreign powers. As a backup, he has announced that his administration has identified other laws that could be used to impose tariffs.

During oral arguments in November, the Supreme Court appeared unlikely to rule in the president’s favor.

President Trump revealed just how effective his tariff power can be Thursday, showing how he strong-armed French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders of more than a dozen other countries to grant the United States the Most Favored Nation rate for prescription drug pricing. 

“He said, ‘No, I won’t do that, Donald. You are asking me to double the cost of our prescription. We will not do that,'” President Trump said of the French president.

I mean, look, you’ve been ripping us off for decades; we are not going to do that anymore. You can do it under Biden, Obama, and other people. You’re not going to do that under us. We won’t do it. I said ‘Well, if you don’t do it, I’m going to charge you a 25 percent tariff on all of your wine, champagne, and everything else you’re selling to the United States.

“He said, ‘Like I said, I will do it,'” Trump recalled.

“That was the end of the conversation, right?” President Trump asked. “That was the end of the conversation. So now we have [Most] Faovred Nations [drug pricing]. Everybody said it would be impossible to get. And I then had the same conversation with 15 other countries, and every one of them agreed after a short conversation.”

“They all said no,” Trump said. “And then within a matter of seconds, they said, ‘We would be very happy to do that, thank you for asking in such a nice way.'”

This comes as the Supreme Court weighs whether President Trump has the authority to impose tariffs as broadly as he has. The president has warned that a ruling against his authority would harm the country and undo the trillions of dollars in U.S. investment promised by foreign powers. As a backup, he has announced that his administration has identified other laws that could be used to impose tariffs.

During oral arguments in November, the Supreme Court appeared unlikely to rule in the president’s favor.