Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday joined President Donald Trump at the White House, where Trump signed three executive orders aimed at lowering the prices of prescription drugs.
One of the orders will reduce the price of insulin and the price of EpiPens. Another order will allow states, wholesalers and pharmacies to import cheaper drugs from Canada.
Florida passed a bill in 2019 to import drugs from Canada and other countries, which needed federal approval.
The signing comes one day after Trump canceled events scheduled in Florida next month for the Republican National Convention amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump had already moved the convention’s public events out of North Carolina because of virus concerns. But the spiking virus shifted south, too, and the planned gathering in Jacksonville increasingly appeared to be both a health and political risk.
Trump and his advisers feared that going forward with big parties and “infomercial” programming in Florida would ultimately backfire on the president.
“It’s a different world, and it will be for a little while,” Trump said, explaining his decision at a White House coronavirus briefing Thursday. “To have a big convention is not the right time.”
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A small subset of GOP delegates will still formally re-nominate Trump on Aug. 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina, at an event scheduled to last just four hours.
Trump had decided last month to shift the ceremonial portions of the GOP convention to Florida because of a dispute with North Carolina’s Democratic leaders over holding an indoor gathering with throngs of supporters taking a pass on face masks.
Trump said he plans to deliver his nomination acceptance speech in an alternate form still to be determined — perhaps online. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the campaign will still “provide exciting, informative, and enthusiastic programming so Republicans can celebrate the re-nomination of President Trump and Vice President Pence.”
