US

Sanders Open To Working With Trump To Lower Drug Prices

Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Democratic socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Tuesday he is willing to work with President Donald Trump on lowering drug prices.

Trump met with pharmaceutical executives Tuesday morning and told them, “we have to lower drug prices.”

“I look forward to working with President Trump on this issue if he is serious about standing up to the pharmaceutical industry and reducing drug prices,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday.

This is the second time in the past week that the former Democratic presidential candidate and Trump have found agreement.

After Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Sanders said, “if President Trump is serious about a new policy to help American workers, then I would be delighted to work with him.”

Sanders is drafting legislation with Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings that would aim to lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug manufactures for lower prices. “The root of this problem is that we are the only major country not to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry,” Sanders said.

Trump, however, seemed to back away from his campaign rhetoric about negotiating drug prices and instead called for lowering taxes and regulations on the pharmaceutical market in order to lower the price of medicine.