Bitter pill for Donald Trump to swallow
Donald Trump is trying to show how great he is, and on Sunday, just before his indoor rally in Las Vegas, he signed a new executive order. The order, per his tweet: “Just signed a new Executive Order to LOWER DRUG PRICES! My Most Favored Nation order will ensure that our Country gets the same low price Big Pharma gives to other countries. The days of global freeriding at America’s expense are over and prices are coming down FAST! Also just ended all rebates to middlemen, further reducing prices.”
There are a few clues that this is once again just posturing by a president who knows he is losing, is going to get crushed, and desperately seeks to provide false comfort to his base. First, if he just signed this, prices have not changed. That is clue number one that this is more BS. Clue number two is that this is not even how markets work.
Donald Trump’s sister, who is a former federal judge and knows all about her brother, was recorded by Mary Trump saying “All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles. None.” This is a cheap stunt, like hydroxychloroquine, plasma and an imaginary vaccine by end of October. We must ignore the man in the White House when it comes to his bad medicine.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.