With the midterms approaching, President Donald Trump’s supporters are pushing back against the notion that his administration is consumed by foreign affairs. According to a recent American Thinker column by Dr. Joseph Ford Cotto, the White House is quietly racking up domestic wins on prescription drugs, manufacturing, and energy that Republicans hope will define the election.
The most immediate headline came on August 31, when the administration announced agreements with nine additional drug manufacturers to bring most-favored-nation (MFN) pricing to American patients. MFN, a policy Trump has championed in his second term, caps U.S. medication prices at the lowest amount paid by comparable economically developed nations for the same drugs.
With the latest additions, 26 drugmakers now cover 89% of the branded U.S. market, according to the column. The new accords span treatments for hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration, glaucoma, liver conditions, skin disorders, and multiple cancers. Every state Medicaid program stands to receive the reduced prices, generating billions in taxpayer savings.
Beyond pricing, the companies have pledged at least $19.6 billion in near-term U.S. manufacturing investments. They’ve also contributed critical ingredients to the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve, a move intended to reduce American dependence on foreign suppliers in a crisis.
Patients are already seeing savings, Cotto writes. Since the TrumpRx website launched in February, consumers have saved more than $700 million. The site offers coupons funded by MFN discounts and directs users to manufacturer-negotiated cash prices. Seniors without previous GLP-1 coverage now pay $50 a month, and more than 500,000 of them saved $216 million in just two months. The Council of Economic Advisers projects $600 billion in total savings over the next decade.
Energy: A Venezuelan windfall
On the same day as the drug pricing news, the White House locked in U.S.-majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan reserves at zero cost to taxpayers, according to the column. That figure dwarfs America’s current 46 billion barrels of territorial reserves. The arrangement guarantees cheap offtake for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was drawn down under the Biden administration.
American rigs and refineries will process the new barrels, Cotto claims, creating thousands of domestic jobs while evicting Russian and Chinese operators who had been extracting from the fields. He frames the move as a revival of the Monroe Doctrine, asserting U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
Manufacturing rebound in Michigan
On the factory floor, Vice President JD Vance visited Michigan—a key swing state with a critical Senate race—to highlight a manufacturing surge. General Motors is investing $6 billion in American plants, including Orion Township near Detroit, and adding overtime in Flint. Ford is putting $3 billion into its battery park in Marshall and adding a third shift in Dearborn. Stellantis is spending hundreds of millions in Van Buren, Detroit, and Warren.
New vehicle sales in 2025 hit their strongest mark since 2019, per the column. Tech giants OpenAI and Oracle are building a $7 billion data-center campus, while Pratt Industries, Corning, Chobani, and GE Aerospace are adding plants and jobs.
Cotto also points to the Working Families Tax Cuts, signed by Trump last year, which eliminate taxes on Social Security for 1.7 million Michigan seniors, exempt overtime and tips from taxation, and offer a deduction for interest on American-made auto loans. Average refunds have reached $3,508. Crime statistics are improving too: homicides are down 19% so far in 2026, with Detroit recording its fewest killings since 1964.
The political stakes
The column’s core argument is that these gains are fragile. Cotto warns that Democrats, whom he describes as captives of socialist activists, are uninterested in protecting this progress. He contends that a Republican Congress is essential to sustain the policies and warns that GOP voters who stay home in November risk handing power to Democrats who would reverse them.
While the piece is unapologetically partisan in tone, it offers a clear summary of the administration’s stated achievements ahead of the election. Whether those accomplishments resonate with voters—and whether the promised savings and jobs materialize—remains to be seen. But for now, Trump’s allies are betting that a message of lower drug costs, roaring factories, and new energy reserves will carry the day.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/09/trump-s-putting-america-first-in-medicine-at-factories-and-with-oil/