Trump Weekly: Trump signs pharma order, FTC opens inquiry into AI chatbots

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:

PHARMA ORDER: U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum mandating that pharmaceutical advertisements increase the amount of information regarding risks of the drug in question. “My Administration will ensure that the current regulatory framework for drug advertising results in fair, balanced, and complete information for American consumers,” the memorandum reads. “The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall therefore take appropriate action to ensure transparency and accuracy in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, including by increasing the amount of information regarding any risks associated with the use of any such prescription drug required to be provided in prescription drug advertisements, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

The Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall take appropriate action to enforce the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act’s prescription drug advertising provisions, and otherwise ensure truthful and non-misleading information in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.” Publicly traded companies in the space include AstraZeneca (AZN), Bristol Myers (BMY), Eli Lilly (LLY), GSK (GSK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK), Novartis (NVS), Pfizer (PFE), Roche (RHHBY) and Sanofi (SNY).

MOST EXPOSED: Wells Fargo sees relatively limited exposure to digital advertising companies outside of DoubleVerify (DV) and Reddit (RDDT) from President Trump’s executive order increasing disclosure requirements for pharma advertising. The order will likely impact ad spend negatively, with DoubleVerify and Reddit having high single-digit exposure, the firm tells investors in a research note. Wells says both companies have over 5% exposure to the pharmaceutical category. The firm’s industry checks suggest Meta Platforms (META) enforced new rules on its health and wellness category advertisers in early 2025, which will likely limit any impact to the company from Trump’s order.

PHARMA ADS: Shares of Omnicom (OMC) and WPP (WPP) were under pressure on Wednesday after President Trump signed a memorandum mandating pharma ads provide more information on risks. The move could potentially disrupt billions of dollars in ad spending, which in turn could affect major advertising agencies like Omnicom, Interpublic (IPG) and WPP. “The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall therefore take appropriate action to ensure transparency and accuracy in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, including by increasing the amount of information regarding any risks associated with the use of any such prescription drug required to be provided in prescription drug advertisements, to the extent permitted by applicable law,” the memorandum reads

AI CHATBOTS INQUIRY: The Federal Trade Commission is issuing orders to seven companies that provide consumer-facing AI-powered chatbots seeking information on how these firms measure, test, and monitor potentially negative impacts of this technology on children and teens. The FTC inquiry seeks to understand what steps, if any, companies have taken to evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions, to limit the products’ use by and potential negative effects on children and teens, and to apprise users and parents of the risks associated with the products. “Protecting kids online is a top priority for the Trump-Vance FTC, and so is fostering innovation in critical sectors of our economy,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. The FTC’s order targets Alphabet (GOOGL), Instagram, Meta Platform (META), OpenAI, Snap (SNAP), xAI, and Character Technologies. The FTC is interested in particular on the impact of these chatbots on children and what actions companies are taking to mitigate potential negative impacts, limit or restrict children’s or teens’ use of these platforms, or comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule.

AD PROBE: Additionally, Josh Sisco and Leah Nylen of Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon.com (AMZN) and Alphabet’s Google to see if the companies misled advertisers that place ads on their websites. The probes are being conducted by the FTC’s consumer protection unit and focus on whether the companies properly disclosed the terms and pricing for ads, sources told Bloomberg.

OFFSHORE WIND: Offshore wind has no future as a source of electricity generation in the United States under the Trump administration, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at an energy conference in Italy this week, according to CNBC‘s Spencer Kimball. “Under this administration, there is not a future for offshore wind because it is too expensive and not reliable enough,” Burgum told an audience at the Gastech conference in Milan on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump barred new leases for offshore wind farms on his first day in office through an executive order that was framed as “temporary,” the author notes. Trump also ordered a review of permits, but the industry had hoped projects under construction would be allowed to move forward. But Interior is “taking a deep look” at five offshore wind farms that are already under construction in the U.S., Burgum said Wednesday without naming the projects. The offshore wind farms under construction are Revolution Wind off Rhode Island; Vineyard Wind 1 off Massachusetts; Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind; Sunrise Wind off New York; and Empire Wind also off New York, the publication notes. Companies with exposure to wind energy include Eversource (ES), NextEra Energy (NEE), GE Vernova (GEV) and Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP).

TARIFFS ON CHINA, INDIA: U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the European Union to levy tariffs of up to 100% on imports from China and India as part of an attempt to raise pressure on Russia to terminate its war in Ukraine, the Financial Times’ James Politi, Amy Mackinnon, and Henry Foy report, citing three officials familiar with the matter. Trump made the demand after calling into a meeting between senior U.S. and EU officials in Washington to discuss ways to increase the economic cost of the war for Putin, the authors note. “We’re ready to go, ready to go right now, but we’re only going to do this if our European partners step up with us,” one U.S. official told FT. Another U.S. official told FT that the White House was prepared to “mirror” any tariffs on China and India imposed by the bloc.

GEORGIA RAID: The immigration raid last week on an electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia owned by two South Korean manufacturers was yet another setback for what had been a fast-growing industry in the U.S., The New York Times’ Farah Stockman and Rebecca F. Elliott report. The sector was already beleaguered by lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles, tariffs on raw materials and the rapid phaseout of a federal tax credit for purchases of E.V.s, which have led companies to delay or scale back production.

But the raid at the plant under construction in Ellabell, Ga., which is owned by the carmaker Hyundai (HYMLF) and battery supplier LG Energy Solution, raised more risks for foreign manufacturers in the United States. Immigration officials arrested 475 people. Of them, about 300 were South Korean citizens, according to the South Korean foreign minister’s office.

The South Korean citizens detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor plan in Georgia are expected to return home on a voluntary basis instead of being deported, which will allow the detainees to avoid a lengthy re-entry ban, Dasl Yoon of The Wall Street Journal reports, citing Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.