Trump was forced to cancel a meeting with the nation’s five largest pharmaceutical companies after they refused to show up.
A White House meeting with top pharmaceutical executives that President Donald Trump promised for Tuesday is off, five industry sources familiar with discussions told POLITICO. Three said the drug-pricing discussion was canceled because the major drug lobbies, reeling from Friday’s cluster of executive orders on the topic, refused to send any members.
Drugmakers and Trump were slated to discuss an executive order, signed Friday but not yet released, that would order health officials to release a plan linking Medicare payments for certain medicines to lower costs paid abroad. The provision, known as a most-favored-nations rule, has been lambasted by the drug industry and some patient groups that say it would curb innovation and reduce drug access.
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No one is happy with Trump’s executive order, but instead of coming to the White House to make their case to Trump, the drug companies think so little of Trump that they are blowing him off in a sure sign that they don’t fear this president or any potential retribution from him.
Trump’s power has diminished to such a degree that companies have gone from tripping over themselves to get some good publicity from one his tweets to not bothering to show up at the White House for a meeting.
There is no greater sign than a president is on his way to being voted out than when he is ignored.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
