WASHINGTON, DC (HRNW) – During a fiery address to House Republican members at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, President Donald Trump mocked French President Emmanuel Macron, claiming he successfully coerced France into tripling its domestic prescription drug prices through aggressive tariff threats.
Recounting a recent conversation, Trump told the GOP audience that he confronted Macron over global drug pricing disparities, arguing that Americans pay “14 times more” than French citizens for the same medications. According to the President, when Macron initially resisted the demand to raise prices, Trump issued a sharp ultimatum: “Emmanuel, if on Monday you haven’t agreed to every single thing we want, I’m putting a 25% tariff on everything coming out of France, including your wines and champagnes.”
Trump claimed that the threat of a trade war—which he noted would be “42 times more expensive” for France than the price adjustment—led to an immediate surrender. Mocking Macron’s voice, Trump alleged the French leader pleaded, “Donald, you have a deal. I would increase my prescription drug prices by 200%… just please don’t tell the population.”
The President further boasted that other world leaders showed similar compliance, claiming that, on average, foreign nations agreed to quadruple their drug prices within “3.2 minutes” of a tariff threat. These claims come as part of Trump’s “Most Favored Nation” policy, which aims to lower costs for Americans by tying Medicare payments to the lowest prices found in other developed nations. Neither President Macron nor the French government have officially responded to Trump’s remarks.
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