Overview
- Speaking to House Republicans in Washington, Trump recounted telling Emmanuel Macron to double prescription drug prices or face 25% tariffs on all French exports, including wine and champagne.
- He performed a mock dialogue of Macron protesting before supposedly agreeing to raise prices by about 200 percent.
- WELT reports the Élysée had already dismissed this narrative in December as incorrect, noting drug prices in France have remained stable and the president does not set them.
- The speech continued a theme Trump has aired before, with similar boasts described in mid-December press accounts.
- Separately, several major drugmakers have recently announced price cuts in the United States after receiving exemptions from planned tariffs, according to WELT.