Donald Trump Increased Pharmaceutical Holdings While Enacting Policies, Congressional Analysis Claims

President Donald Trump's pharmaceutical holdings reached a disclosed maximum of $56.2 million (€50 million and £42.3 million) in 2025, congressional Democrats said. They released their findings in Washington on Friday, 16 October 2026. The analysis raises questions about investments in companies whose medicines benefited from changes to Medicare pricing rules.

The White House denies any conflict of interest. Spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Associated Press that independent financial institutions manage Trump's investments without instructions from him or his family.

Trump signed a Republican-backed tax and spending law in July 2025 that expanded exemptions for certain medicines developed to treat rare diseases. Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee examined the president's financial disclosures alongside those changes.

They calculated maximum pharmaceutical holdings of $1.7 million (€1.5 million and £1.3 million) in 2024, against $56.2 million in 2025. Both figures combine the upper ends of disclosure ranges. They are not confirmed portfolio valuations, realised profits or evidence that Trump personally directed purchases.

Donald Trump's Drug Investments and the Medicare Exemptions

The Joint Economic Committee's Democratic minority identified up to $39.1 million (€34.8 million and £29.4 million) invested in drugmakers with medicines affected by the expanded exemption.

Its list included Merck, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Pfizer, Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb. Eli Lilly also appeared among Trump's major pharmaceutical investments, but was not one of those six identified beneficiaries.

Medicare, the US insurance programme primarily serving older Americans, gained authority to negotiate prices for selected costly medicines under a 2022 law. The 2025 changes widened an existing exclusion for drugs treating rare diseases. Some treatments can avoid negotiation altogether, while others become eligible later.

Supporters of the exemption say it encourages research into rare diseases. Critics warn that delaying negotiation also delays potential savings for patients.

One example is Keytruda, Merck's cancer medicine. Healthcare research organisation KFF says the change could postpone its eligibility for selection by one year. If selected, a negotiated price would take effect in 2029 rather than 2028.

The Democrats projected $5,245 (€4,668 and £3,945) in additional annual costs for a traditional Medicare patient using Keytruda. Crucially, that is a hypothetical comparison, not an actual increase in anyone's bill. It assumes a 33 per cent negotiated discount that has not been agreed.

KFF separately estimated around $3,300 (€2,937 and £2,482) in possible annual savings using a 22 per cent discount assumption. Actual patient costs also depend on treatment arrangements and supplemental insurance. The committee's Part B calculation did not cover Medicare Advantage patients.

Donald Trump Faces Questions as White House Rejects Conflict Claim

Senator Maggie Hassan, the committee's ranking Democrat, accused the administration of favouring drugmakers over patients. 'It's outrageous and yet typical from this President,' she said in its announcement.

Her criticism is an allegation, not a finding that Trump influenced policy for personal gain. Ingle said neither the president nor his family could direct, influence or advise on portfolio transactions.

The Democratic report also examined industry sales. It said Merck recorded $18.8 billion (€16.7 billion and £14.1 billion) in US Keytruda revenue during 2025. Across 15 affected medicines with available figures, manufacturers recorded at least $54 billion (€48.1 billion and £40.6 billion), up 13 per cent year on year.

Those revenues do not demonstrate that the legal exemptions caused sales growth or produced investment gains for Trump.

Trump has promoted pharmaceutical pricing agreements, including deals involving Pfizer and Eli Lilly. But advocacy group Public Citizen, citing heavily redacted documents, questioned their likely savings. Its access to medicines director, Peter Maybarduk, called the deals 'a mirage' in September.

The committee also estimated up to $3.5 million (€3.1 million and £2.6 million) in additional pharmaceutical holdings through August 2026. September transactions were not available to its analysts.

Beyond individual patients, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the expanded exemptions would raise federal Medicare spending over 10 years. The projected increase is $8.8 billion (€7.8 billion and £6.6 billion) from 2025 through 2034. Medicare Part D's annual out-of-pocket cap for covered drugs is $2,100 (€1,869 and £1,579) in 2026. That cap does not apply to Part B treatments such as Keytruda.