Trump Refuses to Take Questions ‘Having to Do With Anything Else’ at Drug Price Announcement

President Donald Trump refused to take questions at Friday’s announcement about the deals his administration has struck to lower drug prices, saying he didn’t want reporter inquiries to “soil” his big moment.

Trump announced Friday that he has negotiated “Most Favored Nation” status for the United States with 14 pharmaceutical companies. He also announced he’ll be meeting with insurance companies to convince them to bring down their prices, too.

“I think that is a very big statement, and what happened here is the biggest statement of all, because no one thought anything like this was possible,” Trump said. “And I think based on that, I won’t even take questions today because there’s no way I can take questions that are anywhere comparable to what you just witnessed. You just witnessed drug prices that will go down at levels never thought even possible…Never thought even possible.”

He continued:

And I prefer not talking and asking questions, only for the reason that this is such a big announcement — meaning what these people have said and what the other four companies are going to say, which is exactly the same thing — that I really don’t want to soil it up by asking questions, even questions that are very fair questions, that I’d love to answer. So, I think we have to just stop right here.

Trump reiterated, “But I don’t want to be asking questions having to do with anything else.”

Fox News’ Martha MacCallum remarked after the press conference, “We don’t see that everyday. President Trump wanting the news conference that we just saw to stand alone. No questions, asked or answered at the end of this.”

A question Trump may have anticipated receiving has to do with the Jeffrey Epstein files. Congress gave the Trump administration 30 days after he signed the Epstein Transparency Act to release all of the files, which puts the deadline at midnight Friday. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on Fox News earlier to admit that his office would not make that deadline, causing bipartisan outrage to light up social media.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.