Trump brings up friend’s Ozempic use while outlining plan to lower drug costs
Photo: Reuters
President Donald Trump shared an anecdote about an unnamed friend’s experience with weight-loss drugs while speaking at a White House rural health roundtable on Friday, Jan. 16, as he discussed his administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices.
About 10 minutes into the hour-long event, Trump, 79, began recounting a story about a “very smart,” “very rich” friend who had taken a GLP-1 weight-loss medication. After initially avoiding naming the drug, Trump said it was Ozempic.
According to the President, the friend, whom Trump described as frequently traveling internationally, pays approximately $1,300 per month for the medication in New York but was able to purchase it for $87 while in London. Trump cited the price discrepancy as an example of what he described as unfair drug pricing in the United States.
Trump said he later told the friend that the medication did not appear to be working for him, adding that he had seen the man recently and believed he had gained weight. He said the friend responded sarcastically, to which Trump replied that he was “just being truthful,” while also acknowledging that the drug “does work on a lot of people.”
Trump: And he took -- I call it the fat drug, I won't say which one. It was ozempic. I told him that the drug does not work on him because I saw him recently, he is fatter than ever. pic.twitter.com/oKjTcr5RoI
Trump has previously said he has never taken GLP-1 weight-loss medications himself, though he has joked publicly that he “probably should.”
The November announcement drew widespread attention after a man standing behind Trump fainted during the press conference. Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was seen assisting the man, whom the White House later said had briefly become light-headed and was fine.
Trump has repeatedly framed the weight-loss drug price reductions as evidence of his administration’s commitment to lowering healthcare costs, saying, “For years, politicians have talked about making health care affordable, but my administration is actually doing it.”