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President Trump, poised on Friday to unveil his strategy to lower prescription drug prices, has an idea that may not be so popular abroad: Bring down costs at home by forcing higher prices in foreign countries that use their national health systems to make drugs more affordable. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump rebuffed his European allies by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. Threatened tariffs on steel and aluminum have strained relations with other developed nations. And now the administration is suggesting policies that could hit the pocketbooks of some of America’s strongest allies. (Pear, 5/9)

The speech, which has been twice delayed, is spurring skepticism from industry experts and Democrats who say it won’t make a serious dent in costs. They say the proposals fall short of Mr. Trump’s pledge to go after pharmaceutical companies he said last year were “getting away with murder. ”Some industry officials, for their part, say they are relieved to have been spared moves on a scale that would wreck their industries and, in turn, hamper drug innovation or access. Mr. Trump’s speech on combating high drug prices will be accompanied by proposed rules and a broad request for input from manufacturers, health providers, patients and others, according to people familiar with the plan. (Armour, Radnofsky and Burton, 5/10)

Daniel Best is suddenly leading the government’s campaign to bring down prescription drug prices. But nobody around town seems to know the guy. While he’s a Washington outsider, he’s the very definition of a pharmaceutical industry insider, having spent the last 13 years working for pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen who negotiate drug prices. Their secretive contracting and business practices have drawn suspicion from lawmakers and administration officials. (Swetlitz, 5/10)