It marked the beginning of a politically intense era when Donald Trump stepped off the golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York City in 2015 and announced the start of his first presidential campaign.
The first 100 days of “Trump 2.0” had a major impact after his return to politics, which some observers call the “biggest comeback” in political history.
In a statement released on April 29 to mark the Trump administration's first 100 days, the White House highlighted inflation statistics claiming that prescription drug prices have fallen by more than 2% since President Trump took office.
“The drop in prescription drug prices last month was the biggest ever recorded,” Brief said. However, experts are debating how directly influenced presidential policies have had on these price trends.
GlobalData reviews how Trump's cabinet choices and decision-making have impacted the healthcare industry after his 100-day appointment.
Escalation of tariffs and trade wars
On April 2, the Trump administration announced that it would impose 10% tariffs on virtually all countries starting on April 5.
On April 9th, during the escalator period, China announced 84% retaliatory tariffs on all goods imported from the US, starting from 34%, in response to Trump's recent taxes. The measure, following the US imposition of a 125% tariff on Chinese imports, which increased from 104% on April 9, 2025, further sparked trade war observers, and was considered “the biggest (economic) shock we've seen since the 1970s.”
Imported drugs and vaccines will be subject to additional tariffs as Chinese government exemptions are currently lacking in the pharmaceutical industry.
According to GlobalData analysis, in the case of pharmaceutical companies, tariffs can destroy drug development costs and prices, as they increase the cost of importing many raw materials and active drugs. The enormous tariffs on imports from China also double-impact due to the country's current grip on drug manufacturing.
Some experts speculate that the “trickle-down” effect of tariffs on drugs will make the US unattractive place to conduct clinical trials, and that the trials could be shipped to other countries where investigational drugs can be produced at a more affordable price.
Beyond the impact, tariffs will also affect test costs and drugs, medical devices such as CT scanners and X-ray devices, and equipment such as gowns and gloves, making supply and demand questionable.
To alleviate these new challenges that have affected the revenues of some of the biggest players in healthcare, some have adopted a visionary approach, taking steps to combat tariffs by trimming the workforce, removing annual revenue forecasts, and in the case of Thermo Fisher Scientific, pledging further investments in US manufacturing.
Doge Effect
One of the key focuses of the Trump administration in the first 100 days was to achieve what it calls “government efficiency.” In reality, this significantly reduced staff reductions and actual elimination of all US government agencies, such as the United States Organization for International Development (USAID), and halted several clinical trials until alternative funds were available.
Various reductions in research funding could affect the ability of academic organizations and early stage businesses in a preclinical setting to move to clinics.
One notable action of the Trump administration's actions over the past 100 days in healthcare has been in the deep cuts in agency personnel under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy (RFK JR) embraced a combination of agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to 62,000 people from 82,000 full-time employees.
This reduction has led some experts to speculate whether reductions will attack agency capabilities in managing rulings such as completing pre-market review mandates for drugs and medical devices, and coordinating national tracking and response plans effective in the event of a new virus's swaddled break.
