During a speech, US President Donald Trump mimicked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, making fun of him and claiming that by threatening to impose high tariffs on French imports into the US, Macron forced Paris to agree to drastically increase its drug prices. Trump claimed that the US had been funding international healthcare for decades and that his Most Favored Nation policy compelled other nations to comply quickly.

Speaking to Republican lawmakers, Trump claimed that because Americans were paying "14 times" as much as French consumers, he asked the French president to increase the cost of prescription drugs. He said Macron first turned down the idea.

According to Trump, he then gave France an ultimatum, threatening to impose a 25% tariff on all of its exports to the US, including wine and champagne, if it did not comply. Trump claims that Macron gave in as a result of the tariff threat.

Trump recalled the purported conversation in which the French leader said, "Donalddd, you have a deal." I want to raise the cost of my prescription medications by at least 200%. I implore you, Donald, to do whatever you want without telling the public."

"Every nation expressed the same sentiment," Trump continued.

He asserted that the concessions he was requesting would have been "42 times more expensive" than the tariff he threatened to impose on France. According to Trump, drug prices in the US decreased after the agreement, but in France, they went from $10 to $30 per pill.

Macron and the French government have not yet responded to Trump's comments.

Trump added that after threatening tariffs, foreign leaders usually agreed to raise their drug prices in talks with other nations within an average of "3.2 minutes."

In reference to his purported discussions with other world leaders, Trump stated, "We would be honored to quadruple our drug prices, if that's what you like."

The remarks were made while Trump is still pushing his Most Favoured Nation policy, which links Medicare payments to the lowest prices that pharmaceutical companies in other developed nations charge in an effort to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the United States. Trump claimed to have negotiated substantial price reductions under the policy, claiming reductions of "400, 500, and even 600 percent." He also declared that the reduced prices would be accessible starting in January via a new website called TrumpRx.gov.