President Trump signed an order on Monday. He said that drug companies must lower medicine prices in 30 days. If they don't, the government might pay less for their medicines later.

The plan asks the health department, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to find new prices for medicines next month. If they don't agree, Kennedy has to make a new rule. This rule will link the price the U.S. pays for medicines to the lower prices paid by other countries.

"We will make things fair," Trump said at a press conference on Monday morning. "Everyone will pay the same. We will pay the same as Europe."

It's not clear how the president's order will change things for many Americans who have their own health insurance. The government can most easily change the price of medicines for people who use Medicare and Medicaid.

Trump said he would save money on medicine, but we don't know if it will happen. This happened just after the Republicans in the House showed their plan to take away a lot of money from a health program called Medicaid.

Drug companies in the U.S. quickly said they were against Trump's order. They said it was not good for American patients. The companies also said that if they made less money, it could hurt their work to find new medicines.

"Bringing in prices from other countries would be bad for American patients and workers," said Stephen J. Ubl, who is in charge of a big group of medicine companies. "It would mean fewer new medicines and cures, and it would put at risk the large amount of money our companies plan to spend in America."

Trump wanted Medicare to pay less for some expensive medicines. This plan has caused disagreements since he first tried it. Near the end of his time as president, he signed an order. This order said the U.S. should pay the same low price that other countries pay for some drugs given at the doctor's office. These include shots or cancer treatments.

A court stopped that order from happening under President Biden. The companies that make medicine said that Trump's plan from 2020 would help other countries decide how much medicines should cost in the U.S.

On Monday at the White House, during a long speech, Trump often said that drug companies were not the problem. He said that other countries were the reason why drugs cost so much for people in America. Other people were with the president, like Kennedy, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Marty Makary, and Jay Bhattacharya.

But he also said he would start official government investigations into how the companies work and let the U.S. buy more medicines from other countries.

Trump stated that pharmaceutical companies earn significant profits from America, adding that he believes this situation is unfavorable.

Over the weekend, Trump emphasized the announcement, claiming his plan could save trillions of dollars.

But on Monday, the White House didn't say how much money they think they can save.

Health leaders will meet with drug companies next month. They will offer new prices for medicines. These prices will be like the prices in other countries, Oz said on Monday.

An expert said that drug prices for Americans will probably not go down quickly because of the order.

Sachs said the plan is to ask companies to lower their prices, but we don't know how much. If they don't lower prices enough, the government will do other things later. These things might make medicine cheaper in the future.

The government health department can change the price of some medicines for older or poorer people because it makes rules. But its power is not complete. A new law in 2022 means that from 2026, Medicare can discuss and agree on prices for some medicines. Before this law, Medicare just paid the price the companies wanted. Drug companies tried to stop this law but could not.

It is harder for the agency to control the price of medicine for millions of Americans who have private insurance.

The U.S. usually pays more for drugs than other rich countries. Both political parties are angry about this, but they haven't found a solution in Congress.

When Trump became president, he said that drug companies were charging too much money. He also said that people in other countries paid less for medicine than people in America.

Before the announcement, Trump spoke strongly about drug companies on social media. He wrote that the companies said for years that research and development cost a lot. He said these costs were paid only by Americans.

He said that money from drug companies helps politicians a lot, but it will not change his mind or the mind of his party.

He wrote that they would do the right thing.

Some medicine companies did well in the stock market on Monday morning.