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President Donald Trump has long bantered about GLP-1s, the breakthrough medicines that have changed care for diabetes and obesity. Sometimes he calls them 鈥渢he fat drug.鈥 In an interview with the in January, he mused that 鈥淚 probably should鈥 take them.
A few days before the Times published that story, Trump invested in Eli Lilly, the nearly $1 trillion drugmaker whose fortunes are closely tied to its blockbuster GLP-1s, Zepbound and Foundayo 鈥 and to government reimbursement for the medicines.
This week we reported on several Lilly stock purchases made by Trump or his brokers from January to March, totaling as much as $680,000, according to a disclosure signed by the president. He also purchased stock worth $250,000 to $500,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services, a company that manufactures devices for injectable drugs. It, too, is benefiting from the GLP-1 surge.聽
As the purchases occurred, the Trump administration was undertaking an agenda that boosted the GLP-1 market, including advancing Medicare reimbursement for the drugs to treat obesity, a long-held goal for Lilly. The deadline for drug manufacturers to get involved in a reimbursement project was Jan. 8.聽
The administration also intensified a crackdown on 鈥渃ompounded鈥 GLP-1s 鈥 cheaper, copycat medications made by pharmacies that critics (and brand-name drugmakers) claim are unsafe. That knocked out competitors to Lilly鈥檚 products. Trump鈥檚 FDA also rapidly approved Lilly鈥檚 GLP-1 pill, Foundayo.聽
The timing of the Lilly purchases 鈥 among more than 3,600 trades Trump or his representatives made in the first quarter of the year 鈥 troubled government ethics experts.聽
鈥淎 president who buys or sells the stock of a company whose value is affected by his administration鈥檚 actions undermines the public鈥檚 trust in two ways,鈥 said Kathleen Clark, a legal ethicist at Washington University in St. Louis.
First, she said, the public should believe government actions are motivated by common good, not personal enrichment. Second, the public should believe that those within government aren鈥檛 benefiting from inside information.
The disclosures have also intensified criticism from Trump opponents who say he鈥檚 trying to profit from the presidency.
Congressional Democrats are calling for legislative action. 鈥淭rump is the ultimate con man 鈥 rig the game, manipulate the rules, and reap the benefits,鈥 Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) , highlighting our report. 鈥淚t鈥檚 long past time we ban presidents from owning and trading stocks.鈥澛犅
Democrats might have their shot at a bill in 2027. Public opinion is increasingly swinging in their direction, and taking both chambers of Congress is a possibility. (Of course, even if Democrats claimed those majorities and passed a bill, it would have to be signed by Trump.) If they were determined to pursue anti-corruption measures relating to health issues, they would have targets beyond Trump鈥檚 stock trading. Democrats have also questioned corporate contributors鈥 influence on changes in FDA tobacco regulation, for example.聽
New ethics disclosures show the president invested in Eli Lilly and a company that manufactures injectable devices as his health agencies implemented policies that benefited them.
