TRUMP’S AFFORDABILITY CRUNCH — A significant percentage of Americans support the White House’s push to use foreign trade negotiations to demand fair drug pricing, POLITICO’s Adam Wren reports.

About 81 percent of likely voters back “demanding that foreign countries pay their fair share for American medicines through fair trade negotiations,” and 73 percent support legislation ending “foreign freeloading” on U.S. drug innovation, according to new polling from McLaughlin and Associates, a firm led by pollsters who served as primary polling strategists for President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

The data was shared with Americans for Health Excellence, a new health care policy group established by former Ohio Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup. Seventy-nine percent back allowing more over-the-counter drugs.

The backdrop: The Trump administration said last week that it would levy tariffs of up to 100 percent on some brand-name pharmaceuticals as part of Trump’s aggressive campaign to compel manufacturers to lower drug prices to levels comparable to those in other developed nations. However, many foreign nations and drugmakers are eligible for carveouts as a result of negotiated pricing and trade deals.

The poll also showed that most likely voters — 51 percent — consider the cost of health insurance to be their top health care concern. Another 18 percent put it at No. 2.

AFHE plans to brief Republican lawmakers on the polling. And McLaughlin polls are known to circulate the West Wing, with Trump frequently posting them on Truth Social.

McLaughlin and Associates conducted its survey with 2,000 likely American voters via online interviews between March 10 and 14, 2026. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, with 95 percent confidence.