With No Real Policy, Trump Asks Drugmakers to Lower U.S. Prices

^{“Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Prescott Valley Event Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona” by Gage Skidmore licensed under CC by SA 2.0} 

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order asking drugmakers to voluntarily reduce the prices of key medicines in the United States.

But the order cites no obvious legal authority to mandate lower prices. The order said the administration would consider taking regulatory actions or importing drugs from other countries in the future if drugmakers do not comply.

It was something of a win for the pharmaceutical industry, which had been bracing for a policy that would be much more damaging to its interests.

Last week, Mr. Trump hyped a coming announcement that was “as big as it gets.” And on Sunday evening, he teed up the order in a Truth Social post, writing that he would link U.S. drug prices to those in peer countries under a “most favored nation” pricing model — a policy he attempted unsuccessfully in his first term for a small set of drugs in...