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--:-- Georgia Howe: Starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the health care of foreign countries. President Trump signs an executive order forcing big pharma to stop charging Americans more than their European counterparts. Will the sweeping order stand up to legal scrutiny and how will other nations respond? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Tuesday, May 13th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Stocks surge after tariffs are slashed as the U.S. and China announce a truce in the trade war. The negotiations are a combination of tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, currency manipulation, and subsidies of labor and capital. And Air Force One needs an update. Will Trump accept an offer of a $400 million flying palace from Qatar? They're giving us a free jet. I could say no, no, no. Or I could say thank you very much.
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--:-- John Bickley: President Trump signed what he called one of the most consequential executive orders in our country's history on Monday to dramatically lower the prices of prescription drugs. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So, a lot of attention being paid to this order and for good reason. Trump said that he's going to lower drug prices in the U.S. by up to 80 percent. He's going to do that by implementing the most favored nation policy. He said he's going to cut out industry middlemen and he's basically going to tell the European Union and other allied nations that they need to pay more for research and development, which is also called R&D.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Trump was asked on Monday if this order now means that America is setting price controls. Here's how he responded.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: It's not price control. No, no. What was price control is before. If you want to talk about price control is what they were doing. They were making us pay. They set a price and they said, here's what we're going to pay. And anything else charge America, because at that time they had a very stupid president. And it really went crazy during the last four years.
--:-- John Bickley: Dr. Marty McCary, who's now leading the FDA, he spoke at the press conference too, and he was very passionate about this order.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: I've been a surgical oncologist at Johns Hopkins for 22 years, and I have seen patients suffer. We didn't take an oath to heal patients and then watch their life get ruined financially. The fundamental problem in health care is that we've had non-competitive markets. We can do little things around the edges or we can transform those markets to competitive markets. And that's what this executive order does.
--:-- Georgia Howe: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also at the presser, he targeted the EU as well. He said that if they were to chip in for R&D and raise their prices by just 20 percent, that would dramatically reduce prices for Americans.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, drug prices have been a bipartisan concern for a long time. What sort of reaction are we seeing from across the aisle? Yeah, we're not hearing a lot from Democrats at the moment. We did get a response from Senator Bernie Sanders, who talks a lot about these drugs. He said he did agree with Trump that prices are too high, but he didn't back this order. He argued that it's going to be blocked by the courts.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, a lot of cautious optimism, at least. Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You're welcome.
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--:-- John Bickley: most consequential deal of his second term come to fruition. After formal negotiations in Switzerland this weekend, China has now agreed to cut tariffs on American imports from 125% down to just 10%, while the U.S. will cut rates from 145% to 10%. And importantly, Beijing has also agreed to suspend or outright cancel non-tariff countermeasures against the U.S. That means their existing ban on rare earth mineral exports could be coming to an end. They'll also remove dozens of American companies from a blacklist that had kept them from operating within China's borders.
--:-- Kevin: Yeah, that's an important note. in February, President Trump implemented an additional 20% tariff on Chinese imports as retaliation for their involvement in the production and distribution of fentanyl. The White House says that Beijing knows the drug is being made there and that it's then being shipped to cartels who bring it to the US, but that they've done nothing to stop it.
--:-- John Bickley: To illustrate that point during negotiations, Secretary Besant reportedly held up a grain of sugar, telling his Chinese counterparts, quote, this could kill a person if it were fentanyl. He then picked up a cube and said this is enough to kill people across the entire city.
--:-- Kevin: The Trump administration says that until China proves that it's actually cracking down on the drug's production, that additional 20% tariff will remain in place. So that means that right now, the effective rate for Chinese imports is actually 30%, not 10%.
--:-- John Bickley: And in a similar vein, the Trump administration has made clear that while they are willing to open up the flow of certain Chinese goods to the US, they want to break our reliance on essential imports like weapons, technology, and importantly, pharmaceuticals.
--:-- Kevin: Now, as expected, this is all very, very good news for Wall Street. How did the markets respond? Yeah, we've talked quite a bit in the last month about how markets have been up and down. On Monday, there was only one direction, and that was up. The Dow shot up more than 1,000 points. The S&P 500 rose more than 3%, erasing all of its gains from the last month. And the Nasdaq shot up more than 4%, marking a 20% increase from its recent low in April.
--:-- John Bickley: And we also saw similar massive gains across Asia and across Europe as well. A lot of people actually excited to look at their stock portfolio yesterday. Go look at your 401k.
--:-- Kevin: Yeah, do so. Kevin, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump is off to the Middle East this week for what the White House promises to be a trip of dealmaking and diplomacy. But the president's trip is off to a controversial start thanks to a story about a $400 million Qatari plane. Here with a look at the saga is Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice.
--:-- Tim Rice: So, Tim a lot of media buzz on this. What going on? Good morning guys. So on Sunday ABC News reported that the Qatari royal family was planning to give Trump a million super luxury Boeing 747 jumbo jet. It's been described as a floating palace. The plane would reportedly be available for Trump to use in lieu of Air Force One by the end of his term, and then, according to some initial reports, transferred to his presidential library.
--:-- John Bickley: For those watching on video, these images are from a similar 747 luxury jet. So a very generous gift. What's in it for the Qataris?
--:-- Tim Rice: Well, Trump says it's merely the Qataris helping us replace Air Force One, which is 40 years old, and according to the president, in need of some serious upgrades. Speaking to reporters before departing for the Middle East yesterday, Trump said the Qataris knew Boeing had delayed production of the new jet he wanted and simply stepped in to help.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they're building the other ones. I think that was a very nice gesture. Now, I could be a stupid person and say, oh, no, we don't want a free plane. We give free things out. We'll take one too. And it helps us out because, again, we're talking about we have 40-year-old aircraft. The money we spend, the maintenance we spend on those planes to keep them tippy-top is astronomical. You wouldn't even believe it. And so I think it's a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.
--:-- Tim Rice: Now, not everyone sees this as just a goodwill gesture. Qatar is one of the richest nations in the world and uses its wealth to gain influence in the United States and many, many other countries. It frequently invites politicians on luxurious state-funded junkets to the Middle East. But that influence buying raises eyebrows because Qatar also uses its oil money to bankroll Hamas and the Middle Eastern news powerhouse Al Jazeera.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, Trump said the crooked Democrats were upset about the transaction, but a lot of Republicans were as well. Yeah, lots of MAGA loyalists were quick to condemn the decision, warning that accepting the plane was bad optics at best and a security risk at worst. No less than the very pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer took to X to say accepting the gift would be a stain on the administration.
--:-- Tim Rice: Trump, for his part, is staying on the offensive, calling accusations of a conflict of interest fake news. Mr. President, what do you say to people who view that luxury jet as a personal gift to you? Why not leave it behind? You're ABC fake news, right? Why not? Because only ABC, well, a few of you would. Let me tell you, you should be embarrassed asking that question. They're giving us a free jet. But speaking of fake news, there's a chance this whole story may have been much ado about nothing. Cutter's media attaché to the United States has been making the rounds since the ABC story broke, telling reporters that the aircraft transfer would only be temporary and that nothing has been finalized yet.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So we'll see what happens when Trump gets to Cutter later this week. Something tells me this story is far from over.
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, well, I would be very wary of a gift like that. Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Rice: You bet. Thanks for waking up with us.
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