Trump touts a major TrumpRx expansion, adding more than 600 generic
drugs
[May 19, 2026]
By ALI SWENSON and DARLENE SUPERVILLE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday announced more than
600 generic medications are being added to the government’s
discounted-drug website TrumpRx, dramatically increasing offerings from
one of the Republican administration’s key initiatives to help Americans
struggling with high costs.
The beefed-up website is the Trump administration's answer to criticism
from Democrats who have called TrumpRx performative and noted that many
of the brand-name drugs it has featured are cheaper with insurance or
have lower-cost generic versions sold elsewhere.
It also marks an effort to respond to a top voter concern for November's
midterm elections: affordability. Health costs are a worry for many
Americans, an issue compounded by the Republican-led Congress' recent
cuts to Medicaid and the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act
subsidies this year that sent some people’s premiums skyrocketing.
The expansion is made possible by partnerships with other online
pharmacies, including Amazon Pharmacy, GoodRx and billionaire investor
Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, Trump said at an event at the White House.
“’This has been the greatest breakthrough in lowering health care costs
in modern history, but we’re just sort of getting started,” Trump said,
calling TrumpRx the “hottest thing in medicine.”
TrumpRx is not a platform for buying medications. Instead, it’s set up
as a facilitator, pointing Americans to drugmakers’ direct-to-consumer
websites, where they can make purchases. It also provides coupons to use
at pharmacies. The site initially launched in February with over 40
medications, including weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Trump said Monday's additions increase the site's offerings by nearly
seven times. He said TrumpRx has been visited more than 10 million times
since its launch.
Even with generics added, experts said the potential savings heavily
depend on a patient's situation. For the vast majority of Americans who
have health insurance, using that coverage to pay for medications is
still usually a better deal than paying cash through TrumpRx, said Rena
Conti, a professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.
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Joe Gebbia, the Chief Design Officer of the United States and the
head of the National Design Studio, speaks about prescription drug
prices during an event with President Donald Trump in the South
Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the
White House campus, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
 People who are uninsured or have a
high deductible to meet, on the other hand, might benefit more from
discounts on sites like TrumpRx, she said. She noted the addition of
generics would likely provide more options for those shopping the
website.
Cuban, a political independent, publicly campaigned for Democrat
Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. But he has
enthusiastically advocated for TrumpRx and the work that some in the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are doing to make
prescription drugs cheaper.
Before Monday, Cuban had said the one thing Trump could do to make
the government’s version better would be to add the drugs available
on his own site.
“Everyone wants me to rip on TrumpRx,” Cuban wrote in a recent
social media post. “Reality is, it’s saving patients money on IVF
and a few other drugs. A lot of money.”
Though they've sparred in the past, Trump and Cuban were congenial
at Monday's event.
“We have the same thing, one thing in common: We want to make people
better and keep them wealthy,” Trump said of himself and Cuban.
Besides TrumpRx, the administration has promoted other efforts to
lower drug costs, including deals between the president and the 17
major drugmakers to offer medications at the same prices that appear
in other developed countries, or lower.
The details of those deals have not been made public and have
prompted scrutiny from lawmakers of both parties who say they want
to review the contracts.
___
Swenson reported from New York.
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