On July 22, 2025, President Donald Trump made the following statement during a reception with members of Congress:

"This is something that nobody else can do, We're gonna get the drug prices down.
Not 30 or 40 percent, which would be great, not 50 or 60, no.
We're gonna get 'em down 1,000 percent, 600 percent, 500 percent, 1500 percent."

    ‐‐ "Trump Fails Basic Math Problem Trying to Brag About Drug Prices" -- New Republic

So, here is the problem for this month:

My Jardiance prescription costs $1,472.87 for a 90 day supply (in January, Medicare paid $747.97 and I paid $724.90).

Figure out how much the $1,472.87 prescription will cost for each of the reductions that Trump mentioned:

30% ________

40% ________

50% ________

60% ________

1,000% ________

600% ________

500% ________

1500% ________

Solution to the Problem:

Here is the solution:

Critics quickly pointed out the reason those numbers (that Trump touted) are not thought to be achievable: reducing the price by 100% would make the drugs free. Reducing it by "1,000%, 600%, 500%, 1,500%," as Trump said, would make the cost negative dollars ― with the drug company essentially paying people to take the medication.

Here are the reductions:

30% The prescription would cost $1031.01

40% The prescription would cost $883.72

50% The prescription would cost $736.44

60% The prescription would cost $589.15

1,000%
The prescription would cost -$13,255.83 or I would be paid $13,255.83 to take the drug!

600%
The prescription would cost -$7,364.35 or I would be paid $7,364.35 to take the drug!

500%
The prescription would cost -$5,891.48 or I would be paid $5,891.48 to take the drug!

1500%
The prescription would cost -$20,620.18 or I would be paid $20,620.18 to take the drug!

As Jasmine Crockett would say, "The math ain't mathin'."