Billionaire Mark Cuban praised President Donald Trump’s TrumpRx program for helping lower prices on certain prescription medications, telling podcast host Kara Swisher that the president deserves credit for his efforts.
Cuban discussed his company’s partnership with TrumpRx during a recent episode of “Pivot,” where Swisher noted that prescription drug prices had experienced their biggest year-over-year decline in more than 60 years.
Swisher said Trump has taken a victory lap over the drop, while noting that experts have pointed to a Biden-era policy requiring Medicare to negotiate drug prices as a more likely factor.
Cuban, whose Cost Plus Drugs partners with TrumpRx, defended the arrangement and described how the government site works.
“Yeah, it’s really simple, they refer traffic,” Cuban said.
TrumpRx.gov allows consumers to search prices for approximately 600 medications, according to Cuban. If Cost Plus Drugs offers the lowest price for a particular medication, the site can direct the consumer to Cuban’s company.
Cuban said the partnership has already produced tangible results for his business and customers.
“We’ve seen our volumes increase, our sales increase,” Cuban said, arguing that cheaper prescription drugs are something Republicans, Democrats and independents can all support.
Cuban explained that increased sales volumes can reduce his company’s costs. Because Cost Plus Drugs operates using a cost-plus-15% model, those savings can then be passed along to consumers.
Since TrumpRx launched, Cuban said his company has lowered prices on more than 200 medications.
“So, there’s no downside,” he said.
When Swisher asked Cuban to discuss former President Joe Biden’s role in lowering drug costs through the Inflation Reduction Act and its requirement for Medicare to negotiate drug prices, Cuban instead continued highlighting Trump’s actions.
Cuban specifically praised Trump’s work involving fertility drugs used by families pursuing IVF.
“I think he’s done a great job on IVF,” Cuban said, pointing to the high cost of fertility medications and saying Trump negotiated lower prices.
“Give him credit for that!” Cuban exclaimed.
Cuban also credited Trump with applying pressure involving GLP-1 medications, noting that in certain Medicare cases they can be obtained for $50 per month.
“So, you know, love him or hate him, I’m certainly not going to say anything that’s going to change anyone’s mind and I’m not going to try,” Cuban said. “But at the same time, give him credit where credit is due.”
Cuban concluded by taking aim at the intensely polarized reactions surrounding Trump.
“There’s two types of TDS,” Cuban said, describing them as “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and “Trump Devotion Syndrome.”
Cuban argued that both sides have their own political buttons that get pushed and that people attempt to push in others.
His approach, Cuban said, is simpler: “I ignore it.”
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