Trump and aides defend mathematically impossible drug price reduction figures at Regeneron announcement event

At the Thursday Oval Office event, Trump acknowledged having stated that drug prices had been cut by "500%, 600%" but added, "We also sometimes say 50%, 60%" and described the higher figures as a "different kind of calculation" that could go up to "70, 80 and 90%." He said, "People understand that better," and added, "But they're two ways of calculating it" and "either way, it doesn't make any difference." Standard mathematics does not support a price reduction exceeding 100% unless a price falls to zero and continues into negative territory — meaning consumers would effectively be paid to acquire a product.

Kennedy, who had faced questioning on the subject the previous day at a Senate hearing from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, attempted at Thursday's event to provide a framework for Trump's figures. Kennedy said that if a drug's price rose from $100 to $600, "that would be a 600% rise," and that a drop back from $600 to $100 would therefore represent a "600% savings." Trump interjected, "That's right." According to both AP and CNN, Kennedy's framing contained multiple errors: an increase from $100 to $600 is a 500% increase, not 600%, and a reduction from $600 to $100 is an 83.3% reduction, not a 600% reduction.

CNN reported that this was not the first instance of Trump administration officials attempting to explain the figures. In October, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stated at an event that a price reduction from $242 to $10 was "too high to calculate without a more studied approach." CNN reported the actual reduction is 95.9%. In a subsequent NBC interview, Oz described Trump's method as treating a price drop from $100 to $50 as "100% cheaper" because the amount removed equals the amount remaining — a calculation CNN described as producing a figure of 50%, not 100%.

CNN also reported that in September it asked the White House to explain Trump's claims of 1,000% to 1,500% reductions. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, offered as an example a drug listed at $521 in the United States versus $45 in Australia, describing the U.S. price as "roughly 1,000% higher." CNN noted that reducing the U.S. price from $521 to $45 would be a 91.4% decrease, and that if the administration's point was that some U.S. drug prices are 1,000% higher than in other countries, that comparison could be stated directly without converting it into a reduction figure.

At the same Thursday event, Trump also addressed the duration of the ongoing conflict with Iran, which began February 28, and said his original four-to-six-week timeline had been met because Iran's military was "decimated" by that point. AP reported that a ceasefire was agreed to this month and that Trump announced an extension of it, but that neither side considers the war concluded. Trump additionally returned to the subject of his 2017 inaugural crowd size, stating that his audience that day was equal to or larger than the crowd Martin Luther King Jr. drew for his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech.