Billionaire investor and the CEO of Pershing Square, Bill Ackman, flagged the contribution of various subsidies to the mounting U.S. debt and appreciated President Donald Trump for proposing an order to cut the drug prices, quoting his earlier suggestion.
What Happened: In an X post, Ackman highlighted that the U.S. has subsidized the world in trade, defense, drugs, and NGOs, contributing to the $37 trillion national debt.
However, he appreciated Trump, calling him the “first president in history to rectify the situation,” after he announced in a Truth Social post that he would be signing an executive order on Monday, cutting the drug prices in the U.S.
Ackman also shared his post dated March 8 and said, Trump “must have liked my idea,” where he penned his suggestions regarding the drug prices and pharma industry.
According to his old post, the best way to reduce drug prices in the U.S. was to make it illegal for drug companies to sell the same drugs abroad for lower prices.
“This will force a globally negotiated price that will be lower than the prices that U.S. consumers pay now and higher than what foreigners pay now,” he added.
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Why It Matters: Trump, in a Truth Social post, said that he will sign an executive order on Monday at 9:00 a.m. ET, which will lead the prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices to drop by 30% to 80%.
“They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA! I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION'S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World,” he added.
Trump also believes that healthcare costs in the U.S. will be reduced after this move, and it would save “trillions of dollars.”
Price Action: The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, fell on Friday. The SPY was down 0.13% to $564.34, while the QQQ declined 0.066% to $487.97, according to Benzinga Pro data.
On Monday, the futures of S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 were trading higher ahead of the pre-open.
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