At Hearing, Warren Exposes TrumpRx Scam, Blasts Trump Administration for Putting Big Pharma Over Americans' Health

At Hearing, Warren Exposes TrumpRx Scam, Blasts Trump Administration for Putting Big Pharma Over Americans' Health

TrumpRx prices are higher for one in four drugs on the website

Warren: "TrumpRx is one more Trump scam right up there with Trump University, Trump Water, Trump Steaks."

Warren: "Americans are getting crushed by health care costs, and [RFK Jr.] and Donald Trump are actually making the problem worse."

Video of Exchange (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. - At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on TrumpRx, revealing how President Trump's marquee drug pricing effort often provides higher prices for Americans while boosting Big Pharma's bottom line.

Following the Trump Administration's efforts to cut health care for millions of Americans, TrumpRx launched as a direct-to-consumer platform where Americans can purchase brand-name drugs for a cash price outside of insurance. President Trump has stated that TrumpRx has reduced prices by as much as 600%, which Senator Warren noted would "mean companies should be paying you to take their drugs."

Despite Secretary Kennedy's assertion that "President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages," Senator Warren highlighted the high TrumpRx prices for several specific ones. For example, TrumpRx lists the medication Protonix for $200, but the generic equivalent, Pantoprazole, costs just $16 at Costco. As a result, patients who use TrumpRx could easily pay more for their drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies struck deals with the Trump administration that resulted in minimal or no savings on prescription drugs while receiving substantial benefits such as 100% tariff relief, exemptions from Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) demonstration programs, and access to priority review vouchers from the Food and Drug Administration.

Senator Warren slammed President Trump's deals with Big Pharma companies: "Big Pharma makes billions of dollars in tariff relief by listing their drugs on TrumpRx, and then they don't even lower the costs on many of these drugs. That is a great deal for Big Pharma."

"Did you sign off on these sweetheart deals for Big Pharma, or was this all President Trump's idea?," asked Senator Warren, pressing Secretary Kennedy on the need for transparency regarding the agreements between the pharmaceutical companies and the Trump administration. Secretary Kennedy committed "to make the deals available."

"[Americans have] got a better than one out of four chance of paying more at TrumpRx than they would if they went to Costco," Senator Warren concluded. "That's not much of a deal for the American people."

Transcript: Hearings to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Senate Finance Committee
April 22, 2026

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, after President Trump and the Republicans slashed health care for millions of families, the president pitched his TrumpRx website as the answer for Americans who are worried about health care costs. He claims that TrumpRx has reduced prices by as much as 600%, which I think means companies should be paying you to take their drugs.

But let's do some real math here. Take one drug, Protonix, a 30 day supply of this heartburn medication costs $200 on TrumpRx, but there is an identical generic version of this pill called Pantoprazole. Secretary Kennedy, do you know how much it costs for a 30 day supply of that drug at Costco?

Secretary Kennedy: But I would say this, Senator, President Trump has a different way of calculating. There's two ways of calculating percentage. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that's a 600% reduction.

Senator Warren: Mr. Kennedy, you know, I only have five minutes. Do you know what the drug costs at Costco?

Secretary Kennedy: I do not.

Senator Warren: The drug is $16 at Costco. TrumpRx charges $200 for Protonix, and Costco charges $16. Let's do another one. Tikosyn is a treatment for heart arrhythmia, costs $336 on TrumpRx, or you can get the generic at Cost Plus Drugs for $12.

So, you tell me, Mr. Secretary, are patients better off paying $336 on TrumpRx or $12 at Cost Plus Drugs?

Secretary Kennedy: You're comparing apples to oranges because you're comparing the brand drug to the generic drug.

Senator Warren: To the exact same drug.

Secretary Kennedy: Well, people should be buying the generic, and we will be directing them to the generic.

Senator Warren: To the exact same drug? Tell me, Mr. Secretary, you think people ought to be paying $336 instead of $12?

Secretary Kennedy: A lot of people, a lot of doctors, prescribe the brand, so we're giving them 600% reductions on brand. We will be directing them to the generic whenever it's available.

Senator Warren: So here's the thing. We know about brand names versus generic. It's a big pharma talking point in order to fool people into buying a more expensive drug. The generic is chemically the same. And here's the thing: if you're buying a drug on TrumpRx, there is a more than one in four chance that Trump's discount is actually a price hike. And for an anti-Big Pharma guy, you sure don't seem worried about steering patients to more expensive drugs that are going to pad Big Pharma's profits.

But there's more in this deal. In exchange for these scam discounts, President Trump has exempted these drug companies from his 100% tariffs. So think about that. Big Pharma makes billions of dollars in tariff relief by listing their drugs on TrumpRx, and then they don't even lower the costs on many of these drugs. That is a great deal for Big Pharma.

So, Secretary Kennedy, here's my question: Did you sign off on these sweetheart deals for Big Pharma, or was this all President Trump's idea?

Secretary Kennedy: The tariff relief is only applicable if the company has agreed to produce the drug in America. They have one year to do so well, and then they don't get the tariff relief, and then it's going to bankrupt them.

Senator Warren: So you're the one who negotiated these.

Secretary Kennedy: Did I negotiate the deal?

Senator Warren: You negotiated these deals? Will you make those deals available to us so we can see them?

Secretary Kennedy: I didn't personally negotiate.

Senator Warren: All right. Did your team negotiate these?

Secretary Kennedy: Yes.

Senator Warren: Will you make those deals available to us so we can see them? A little transparency?

Secretary Kennedy: I've already said this. I'm happy to make the deals available, except for proprietary information and trade secrets.

Senator Warren: I will hold you to that, Mr. Secretary, because if these deals with Big Pharma are so great for Americans, then we should be able to see what promises have been made.

Secretary Kennedy: You have the power to make this deal yourself. Why don't you do that? We did this because you refused to do it.

Senator Warren: Look, TrumpRx is one more Trump scam right up there with Trump University, Trump Water, Trump Steaks.

Secretary Kennedy: You have a lot more power to negotiate than we do. We got the lowest prices in history.

Senator Warren: Americans are getting crushed by health care costs, and you and Donald Trump are actually making the problem worse. The American public deserves better.

Secretary Kennedy: Millions of people who are using Trump RX disagree with you.

Senator Warren: I'm sorry, what was that?

Secretary Kennedy: I said the millions of people who are using TrumpRx disagree with you.

Senator Warren: They got a better than one out of four chance of paying more at TrumpRx than they would if they went to Costco. That's not much of a deal for the American people.

Secretary Kennedy: Not on branded drugs.

Senator Warren: Oh, so your answer is Americans should just not take prescription drugs?

Secretary Kennedy: We will be directing people to the generics, the cheapest available. But a lot of doctors prescribe the brands, and we're giving them massive reductions in the brands.

Senator Warren: So those mass, mass discounts are that people can pay hundreds of dollars or more on TrumpRx, or they can get it for $12 at Costco.

Senator Ron Wyden: The second instance of the Secretary denying the public's right to know. That's all that the members on this committee have asked for.

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