Reuters / Cathal McNaughton
President Trump will hit the Midterm campaign trail Thursday to propose sweeping cuts to the cost of Medicare drugs, Politico reports. In a speech planned for Thursday afternoon, Trump will blame “foreign freeloaders” for inflating drug costs in the United States. Trump will reportedly outline a plan to benchmark U.S. drug prices against 16 other developed nations—in Europe, North America, and Asia—where target drug prices are collectively 44 percent lower. The president will say his administration’s aim is to lower prices to those international levels over five years. According to Politico, the Trump administration also wants to allow private sector vendors to negotiate with drugmakers. The proposals will only apply to drugs administered in doctors’ offices and outpatient hospital departments and won’t affect most prescriptions bought by patients at pharmacies.