PALM BEACH, Fla. (Diya TV) — Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday reviving a controversial “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) drug pricing policy from his first term, aiming to significantly cut the cost of prescription medications in the United States by tying prices to those paid in other developed countries.

The policy, which was originally finalized in late 2020 but blocked in court and later rescinded by the Biden administration, would link U.S. payments for certain drugs to the lowest price available internationally. Trump now says the revived order is broader and more aggressive than the original, covering not just Medicare Part B drugs but also potentially impacting the commercial market and Medicaid.

“I will be signing one of the most consequential Executive Orders in our Country’s history,” Trump said Sunday night in a post on Truth Social. “Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be reduced, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%.”

During a press event on Monday, Trump added: “We are going to pay the lowest price there is in the world. That’s the price we’re going to get.”

The executive order directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to focus on drugs with the highest disparities in price and spending, including potentially popular GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss. It also calls on the FDA to explore expanding drug imports beyond Canada, and tasks the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission with cracking down on anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition, the order instructs the HHS secretary, now Robert F. Kennedy Jr. under Trump’s administration, to establish a pathway for patients to buy drugs directly from manufacturers at MFN prices, bypassing traditional middlemen.

However, critics argue the plan may face steep legal challenges similar to those that derailed the 2020 rule. “The more grandiose Trump’s proposed executive actions, the less likely they are to be implemented,” said Chris Meekins, an analyst at Raymond James, in a note to clients reported by CNN.

Pharmaceutical industry leaders and trade groups voiced immediate concern. Stephen Ubl, CEO of PhRMA, the industry’s main lobbying organization, condemned the policy as a “Foreign First Pricing scheme” that could cut billions from Medicare without improving patient access. He warned it could jeopardize planned investments in U.S. drug research and make the country more reliant on foreign supply chains.

Experts also question whether the MFN approach will deliver the promised savings. A 2022 Rand Corporation study cited by CNN found U.S. drug prices average two to three times higher than those in other developed nations. But USC experts warned in April that if companies lose profits in the U.S., they might exit less lucrative foreign markets rather than lower prices stateside—resulting in little net benefit to American consumers.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration claims the policy could lead to sweeping changes in how drugs are priced globally. “The United States will no longer subsidize the health care of foreign countries,” Trump said Monday. “Other countries should pay for research and development, too.”

The new order also sets a 30-day timeline for HHS to establish clear drug price reduction targets across all U.S. markets. If progress falls short, the administration says it will move forward with formal rulemaking to enforce MFN pricing.

While the pharmaceutical industry prepares for potential litigation, the Trump administration says it still has other tools at its disposal. Trump has proposed changes to Medicare’s drug price negotiation program — originally introduced under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act — and has pledged to announce new tariffs on imported medicines within weeks as part of a broader push to reshore pharmaceutical manufacturing.

With prescription drug prices remaining a top concern for many Americans — a 2022 KFF poll found more than three in four adults consider medication costs unaffordable — the revived MFN initiative is likely to become a flashpoint in Trump’s policy agenda heading into the election cycle.