Trump Fails Basic Math Problem in His Own Drug Prices Executive Order

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Does Donald Trump know the details of his own executive order to reduce the price of pharmaceuticals?

During an address from the White House Monday morning, the president stumbled over the terms of his latest executive order, which set a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to negotiate lower prices in the U.S.

“Drug prices will come down by, much more really if you think—59, if you think of sometimes a drug that is 10 times more expensive, it’s much more than the 59 percent. You know, it depends on the way you want to analyze it, but in one way you could analyze it that way,” Trump said. “But between 59 and 80, and I guess even 90 percent.”

Trump insisted that the prices would be slashed by a far more significant rate than the cut he pushed in his first term. “Well, we’re getting them down 60, 70, 80, 90 percent—but actually more than that if you think about it in a way, mathematically,” he added.

Link to tweet

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cognitive-decline-trump-fumbles-basic-162601226.html

Stable genius at work,

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Maddow Blog-On Trump's executive order on prescription drug prices, don't believe the hype

On the surface, the president signed an executive order on lowering the costs of medications. Just below the surface, his plan is largely meaningless.

I've learned one of his mouth opens he's lying...
On Trump’s executive order on prescription drug prices, don’t believe the hype.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-executive-order-prescription-drug-prices-dont-believe-hype-rcna206462

Years later, the incumbent president has nevertheless returned to the issue with unnerving hype, declaring that he was poised to deliver an announcement that would be “as big as it gets.” As The New York Times reported on Trump’s new executive order, there was a sizable gap between what he promised and what he delivered.

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order asking drugmakers to voluntarily reduce the prices of key medicines in the United States. But the order cites no obvious legal authority to mandate lower prices. The order said the administration would consider taking regulatory actions or importing drugs from other countries in the future if drugmakers do not comply. It was something of a win for the pharmaceutical industry, which had been bracing for a policy that would be much more damaging to its interests.

To be sure, the president did sign an executive order and used audacious rhetoric that made the Republican sound like an acolyte of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Americans who simply looked at headlines about Trump “tackling” the high cost of prescription medications might’ve thought he’d done something meaningful that will make a different in consumers’ lives.....

The problem, of course, is that like so much of what Trump says, these boasts weren’t true. As The Washington Post’s report on the executive order note, the new White House policy has no “clear mechanisms for providing fast relief to American patients,” was short on substantive details, and “lacks teeth that would compel lower prices in the near term.”....

Pretty much every dimension of this is difficult to take seriously. Trump’s executive order is similar to his failed first-term initiative; there’s literally no reason to believe it will be effective; it relies heavily on voluntary price drops from an industry that has no real incentive to cut its own profits; and relies on an approach to price controls that the president has repeatedly condemned.

Trump struggled to even guess the impact of his own vague policy. “Drug prices will come down by much more really if you think,” he said. “But between 59% and 80% and I guess even 90%. ... We’re getting them down 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%. But actually more than that if you think about it in a way, mathematically.”

Well, that ought to clear things up.

[Midnight Writer]

2. A meaningless piece of paper. Another scam to convince the rubes he cares about them.

I signed a piece of paper this morning guaranteeing every American citizen get a yearly stipend of 1 million dollars.

My signed paper will provide just as much real-world relief as his signed paper.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Why The Qataris Are Happy To Dump Their 747 On Trump

This plane has been on the market for five years and there are no buyers. This plane uses a ton of fuel and can only land on special runways. trump is bailing out a member of the royal family by taking a plane that is not marketable.

"Why The Qataris Are Happy To Dump Their 747 On Trump"

"There may be a simpler rationale: they just don’t want it anymore."

@jeremybogaisky.bsky.social for @forbes.com

— Zach Everson (@zacheverson.com) 2025-05-15T17:36:13.733Z

Why The Qataris Are Happy To Dump Their 747 On Trump"

"There may be a simpler rationale: they just don’t want it anymore."

Link to tweet

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremybogaisky/2025/05/14/qatar-747-trump

The royal family of Qatar, owner of one of the largest private jet fleets in the world, has been quietly getting rid of some of its biggest planes. It may have found the perfect taker for one of its Boeing 747 jumbo jets in President Donald Trump, who has been frustrated with the multi-year delays in replacing Air Force One.,....

The royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020, according to an archived listing. Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs, aviation experts told Forbes. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.

Qatar, which has given away another blinged-out 747 and may have mothballed two more, epitomizes the fading demand for these huge, fuel-guzzling, highly personalized airplanes. There aren’t many who want to buy them, and many of the governments and royal families who own them have been trying to ditch them over the past decade.

“Qatar, like many modern states, is shifting toward leaner, more versatile aircraft, which offer better economics and more discreet presence for official travel,” Linus Bauer, managing director of the Dubai-based aviation consulting firm BAA & Partners, told Forbes. Giving the plane to Trump would be “a creative disposal strategy” that marks “a farewell to a bygone model of geopolitical theater in the skies.”.....

Beyond poor fuel efficiency, large ostentatious planes are a security risk, notes Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with Aerodynamic Advisory. “These things are big targets.” And bigger planes can only land on longer runways, limiting their usage. “There are a lot more airports you can get into if you have a narrowbody, and many more still if you have a traditional business jet,” he said......

Giving the 747-8 to the U.S. would also allow the Qataris to avoid maintenance costs that are only getting higher with the 747 fleet shrinking worldwide and fewer mechanics available who know how to work on them, said John Goglia, a former airline mechanic and member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. The 2020 sales brochure noted that the plane was due for a landing gear overhaul in 2024 and a 12-year check in 2027. A check in which the airplane and engines are taken apart, typically carried out every six to 12 years, can take months to complete and cost millions of dollars. “The numbers are staggering,” said Goglia.