https://www.axios.com/2025/09/27/trumps-fact-check-math-tariffs-fentanyl-drug

 

President Trump and his administration frequently boast that he's "been right about everything" and that his policies have ushered in the "Golden Age" of America.

The big picture: However, some of the president's sweeping claims, including slashing drug costs, combating fentanyl deaths and supercharging the American economy through tariffs, fall flat when compared to the actual data.

Driving the news: Last week, the president said that his administration will be "reducing drug costs over the next year ... by not 50 or 60%, by a 1,000%."

 

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Reality check: Dr. William Padula, a health economist at the University of Southern California, told Axios that negotiating drug pricing to a 1,000% decrease would be an "uphill battle."

"I don't have any mathematical explanation for that, other than we'd have to reconfigure our entire health system and infrastructure in order to operate more like other countries to get there," Padula said.

Trump also recently claimed that 300 million people died from drug use last year. 

"What's illegal are ... the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs."

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About 340 million people live in the U.S., according to the Census.

It's unclear if the president meant that 300 million Americans died from drugs last year, or if he was referring to global deaths, but either way, his math is considerably off.

11 hours ago, Schoggibueb said:

combating fentanyl deaths and supercharging the American economy through tariffs, fall flat when compared to the actual data.

 

The effects of tariffs are not immediate.

 

 

9 hours ago, save the frogs said:

 

The effects of tariffs are not immediate.

 

 

You’re right, the impacts of deliberately damaging trade takes time, but they are showing up.