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Voters put Trump in power to lower prices, now they want him to deliver
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Voters put Trump in power to lower prices, now they want him to deliver

Key recommendations

  • Lowering prescription drug costs topped the Trump administration’s wish list for action, according to a poll of voters in the Nov. 5 election.
  • Voter anger over rising consumer prices under Biden helped carry Republicans into office.
  • Biden took steps to lower drug prices as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and the price cuts take effect in 2026.

Voter anger over inflation helped propel Donald Trump to the White House, and now, a new poll indicates those voters want him to take action to lower prices.

“Lowering the cost of prescription drugs” was the most popular choice among voters who were asked what Trump’s first priority should be, according to a Morning Consult poll released Tuesday. The poll was conducted in the days following Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 general election.

The drop in prescription drug costs came before “improving America’s infrastructure” and “immigration reform.”

If Trump takes action on drug prices, it wouldn’t be the first time. Trump has made several moves to lower prescription drug costs during his first term.

For example, a 2020 executive order would have required Medicare, the government insurance program for older Americans, to pay the same for certain drugs as they cost in foreign countries. A federal court blocked the measure before it took effect, and Joe Biden’s administration later withdrew it.

Prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries will likely drop even if Trump takes no action. A law signed by Biden allows Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies. The lower prices negotiated under the 2022 law will go into effect in 2026, though only for 10 specific drugs.

What about other prices?

Prescription drug prices aren’t the only inflation voters are looking to Trump to fix.

Consumer prices have risen since the end of 2021 as the economy has reopened following the pandemic. Although price increases have since declined to near pre-pandemic levels, most prices have remained well above the Trump-era average.

According to an economist at Oxford Economics, this reality may have doomed the Democrats in the 2024 election. The Oxford model predicted that Republicans would ride a wave of anger over inflation to victory in the presidential race.

“Democrats were probably destined to lose the 2024 presidential contest, and it would have taken sustained deflation in recent years for Vice President Kamala Harris to have had a chance of winning,” wrote Bernard Yaros, senior US economist at Oxford.

Will Trump ease inflation?

The policies that Trump proposed during the election campaign, including CHARGES and mass deportations-risk exacerbating inflationdon’t cut it, according to most mainstream economists.

Unfortunately for voters who want prices to fall broadly, this has historically only happened during times of economic hardship, such as the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve, charged by Congress with managing inflation, trying to keep inflation at 2% a year instead of falling.