Then the doors were closed. When they opened again, Trump had not only abandoned his promise to use the government's bargaining power to bring down drug prices, he was now totally against it!

It wasn't all that long ago -- though it seems that way, admittedly, with the never-ending flood of Trumpian news -- that I was prepared to acknowledge that President Donald Trump actually has a few good ideas. Or at least one...

Pharma companies were "getting away with murder," he said on Jan. 10, because they "had a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power." A few weeks later, he claimed that the government would save $300 billion if it could negotiate prices.
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Back to Tuesday's meeting: Trump goes into it as powerful as he'll ever be. The executives are scared of him (What if he tweets?!). The Republicans in Congress want to mollify him so they can get their tax cuts. Although executives and Republicans alike oppose empowering CMS to negotiate drug prices, it's possible -- it really is! -- that he could make it happen if he moves quickly.

"We have to get prices down," he says at the beginning of the meeting with cameras rolling. "We have no choice."

Then the doors were closed. When they opened again, Trump had not only abandoned his promise to use the government's bargaining power to bring down drug prices, he was now totally against it!