Morning Wire - Tariffs Slashed, Stocks Surge & Drug Prices Cut | 5.13.25

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

President Trump signs an executive order that promises to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, the U.S. and China agree on a tariff truce, and controversy over a luxury jet offered to Trump by the country of Qatar. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Balance of Nature: Go to balanceofnature.com and use promo code WIRE for 35% off your first order as a preferred customer PLUS get a free bottle of Fiber and Spice. Lumen: Get 15% off your Lumen at Lumen.me/WIRE Shopify: Go to Shopify.com/morningwire to sign up for your $1 per month trial period today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Stock surge after tariffs are slashed as the U.S. and China announce a truce in the trade war. The negotiations are a combination of tariff, 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. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Hey, guys.

Producer Brandon here. Balance of Nature, fruits and veggies provide a convenient way to get your daily whole fruits and vegetables. Using a special freeze drying process, they transform fresh produce into easy-to-take capsules that you can bring anywhere. While not replacing a healthy diet, Balance of Nature works alongside your other healthy habits to support your wellness journey. I take these capsules whenever I'm traveling to ensure I get my daily fruits and veggies. Head to Balance of Nature.com and use promo code wire for 35% off your first order as a preferred customer, plus get a free bottle of fiber and spice. That's balance of nature.com promo code wire. 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 Presto Giacomo. So Amanda, potentially a game-changing move here. What is the president intending to do with this order? Yeah, 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%. 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. Here's the president. We're subsidizing others' health care. Countries where they paid a small fraction of what, for the same drug, that we pay many, many times more for, and we'll no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging. from Big Pharma, but again, it was really the countries that forced Big Pharma to do things that,

frankly, I'm not sure they really felt comfortable doing. Now, specifically, this order is going to allow Americans to buy drugs directly from manufacturers cutting out those middlemen. These so-called middlemen are PBMs or pharmacy benefit managers. They work with insurance providers to negotiate prices with drug companies in exchange for including those drugs in their coverage. Now, critics have said that PBMs are, are not transparent and they don't actually have incentive to lower prices for Americans. The order also sets a 30-day deadline for HHS to work with these drug makers to lower prescription drug costs. If a deal is not reached in time, a new rule is going to kick in that

will effectively make these drugs the same price as other nations are paying for them. It's going to happen because the other countries have no choice. Now, the drug companies are going to have to say, listen, if you don't pay more, we're not going to give you the drug and they're willing to do that. So that's it. They have to, we have to equalize. Trump was asked on Monday if this order now means that America is setting price controls. Here's how he responded. 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.

Dr. Marty McCarrie, who's now leading the FDA, he spoke at the press conference too, and he was very passionate about this order. 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. 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%, that would dramatically reduce prices for Americans. 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. As for the right, there's a little bit of skepticism about how this is all going to be implemented, but overall, there is a lot of support, especially since this is all being framed by Trump as an America First policy. Well, a lot of cautious optimism at least. Amanda, thanks for reporting. You're welcome. When your metabolism is working correctly, you feel the benefits in every aspect of life. With Lumen, the world's first handheld metabolic coach, you can gain insight and stay on track when it comes to improving your health.

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Thank you, Lumen, for sponsoring this episode. Stocks soared Monday after the U.S. and China formally agreed to a trade deal that will dramatically lower tariffs across the board. Daily Wire's senior editor, Senator Cabot Phillips has the latest on this highly anticipated deal. Hey, Cabot, so a crucial agreement between China and the U.S. announced.

We've got the details now. Tell us what we know. Well, if we've learned anything about Donald Trump in the last few years, it's that this is a man who loves cutting a good deal. And on Monday, we saw the 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. The new rates will apply for the next 90 days. In the meantime, the two sides will work on making a permanent deal. Here's President Trump announcing the deal from the White House Monday. Yesterday, we achieved a total reset with China after productive talks in Geneva. Both sides now agreed to reduce the tariffs imposed after April 2nd to 10% for 90 days

as negotiators continue in the largest structural issues. Now, this deal marks a stunning turnaround and reversal of hostilities. Ahead of this weekend's meetings, for example, even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the deal was a long ways off and that his goal heading in was de-eastern. escalation, not a big trade deal. That's a direct quote. But clearly the Chinese were more willing to negotiate than many had expected. For their part, Beijing signed on to a joint statement that referenced a quote, spirit of mutual opening, continued communication, cooperation, and mutual respect. So they're showing a little love there. That's quite a different message than we heard last month.

Indeed. And the Chinese were calling the U.S. bullies, saying they were going to make us pay, etc. As more proof of these improving relations, the two sides also agreed to establish a formal process for future streamlined trade talks. That includes the use of a third country as a mediator. Now, President Trump did keep certain tariffs in place related to fentanyl, which are significant. Tell us about that. 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 U.S., but that they've done nothing to stop it. To illustrate that point during negotiations, Secretary Bessent 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. 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%. 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 U.S.,

they want to break our reliance on essential imports like weapons, technology, and importantly, pharmaceuticals. Here's Besson to that point Monday. The United States will continue a strategic rebalancing in many areas that were exposed as supply chain weaknesses during COVID, whether it's medicines, whether it's semiconductor, Steel, the other, we've identified five or six strategic industries and supply chain vulnerabilities, and we will continue moving toward U.S. independence or reliable supplies from allies on those. 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. Wow. 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. Yeah, do so. Kevin, thanks so much for reporting. Absolutely. Trump is off to the Middle East this week for what the ones. 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 dollar Qatari plane. Here with a look at the saga is Daily Wire Deputy Managing editor Tim Rice. So Tim, a lot of media buzz on this. What's going on?

Good morning, guys. So on Sunday, ABC News reported that the Katari Royal Family was planning to give Trump a $400 million super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet. It's been described. as a floating palace. The claim 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. 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?

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 new Boeing had delayed production of the new jet he wanted and simply stepped in to help. 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 to say, oh, no, we don't want a free plane. We give free things that. 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. 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. 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. While 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 Lumer took to X to say accepting the gift would be a stain on the administration. 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 by the audience? You're an ABC fake notice, right? Because only ABC, well, a few of you would. let me tell you should be embarrassed to 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 attache 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. So we'll see what happens when Trump gets to Qatar later this week. Something tells me this story is far from over. Yeah, well, I would be very wary of a gift like that. Tim, thanks for reporting. You bet. Thanks for waking up with us.

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