Topline
Billionaire Mark Cuban, the co-founder of online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs, sparked blowback Monday for appearing with President Donald Trump at a White House event to announce an expansion of the TrumpRx platform, later deleting an X post defending his appearance that suggested anyone who “thinks I’m going to put politics ahead of helping Americans reduce their cost of healthcare and pharmaceuticals” is a “f—– idiot.”
Key Facts
Cuban defended his company’s partnership with the Trump administration to list generic drugs on the TrumpRx website, but later deleted the post he made afterward because “cursing didn’t make my point.”
Some on social media were critical of Cuban, who endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, appearing with Trump, who at one point while taking questions at Monday’s event defended the creation of a controversial $1.8 billion fund that could go toward Jan. 6 rioters.
“He should have walked off. That said it’s not easy to do that. Just would have been nice,” former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., tweeted Monday, sharing a video of Cuban standing behind Trump while the president lauded the fund, created as part of a settlement to resolve a lawsuit he brought against the IRS.
Cuban after the event also brushed off a question about whether he regrets backing Harris, saying “I’m not going into my politics at all”—after Trump joked during the event that Cuban knew it was a “mistake” to back his competitor in the prior election.
News Peg
Trump announced a major expansion of his TrumpRx website—a service that doesn’t sell drugs, but partners with manufacturers to find lower costs for consumers. The platform will now list over 600 generic drugs by partnering with Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy and GoodRx. “This is a special announcement, this is a special partnership—559 of those drugs are ours, so we’re really excited to be part of this,” Cuban said during his brief remarks at the press conference. In addition to announcing the new TrumpRx expansion, the president used the press conference to answer questions about the Iran war and defended his administration’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as “very well received.”
Crucial Quote
“Tell me one person who thinks that healthcare economics are well run in this country,” Cuban tweeted in his now-deleted post. “It’s the biggest affordability issue.”
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Cuban’s net worth at $6 billion, making him the 683rd-wealthiest person in the world as of Monday evening. Cuban, the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, entered the online pharmacy business in January 2022.
