SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers will be the team facing the division-rival Los Angeles Rams in the first-ever regular-season NFL game in Australia next season, and the Dallas Cowboys will be one of the teams playing the first game in Rio de Janeiro, the league said Thursday.
The league had announced last year that it will be playing a game in 2026 in Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a venue that holds about 100,000 spectators. The Rams were also announced last year as the home team for that game, part of a multi-year commitment to play in Melbourne.
“The 49ers are a popular franchise within the Australian market, and this rivalry game solidifies what we know is going to be an incredible NFL experience for our fans down under,” said Charlotte Offord, NFL Australia & New Zealand general manager.
The NFL will play a record nine international games next season, including the league's first games in Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
The Cowboys were announced Thursday as one of the teams playing in Rio.
“We are proud to welcome the Dallas Cowboys to Brazil for the first ever NFL game in Rio de Janeiro,” said Luis Martinez, NFL Brazil general manager. “Introducing one of the league’s most iconic teams to the Maracanã Stadium marks a powerful milestone in the continued growth of the sport worldwide."
The dates of the games in Melbourne and Rio and the Cowboys' opponent were not announced.
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FILE - A general view during the second rugby union test between Australia and the British & Irish Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne, Australia, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday launched TrumpRx, a website it says will help patients buy prescription drugs directly at a discounted rate at a time when health care and the cost of living are growing concerns for Americans.
“You’re going to save a fortune,” President Donald Trump said at the site’s unveiling. “And this is also so good for overall health care.”
The government-hosted website is not a platform for buying medications. Instead, it's set up as a facilitator, pointing Americans to drugmakers’ direct-to-consumer websites, where they can make purchases. It also provides coupons to use at pharmacies. The site launches with over 40 medications, including weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
The site is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to show it's tacking the challenges of high costs. Affordability has emerged as a political vulnerability for Trump and his Republican allies going into November's midterm elections, as Americans remain concerned about the cost of housing, groceries, utilities and other staples of middle-class identity.
Trump stressed that the lower prices were made possible by his pressuring of pharmaceutical companies on prices, saying he demanded that they charge the same costs in the U.S. as in other nations. He said prescription drug costs will increase in foreign countries as a result.
“We're tired of subsidizing the world,” Trump said at the event on the White House campus that lasted roughly 20 minutes.
The president first teased TrumpRx in September while announcing the first of his more than 15 deals with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices to match the lowest price offered in other developed nations. He said in December the website would provide “massive discounts to all consumers" — though it's unclear whether the prices available on drugmakers' websites will routinely be any lower than what many consumers could get through their insurance coverage.
The website's Thursday release came after it faced multiple delays, for reasons the administration hasn't publicly shared. Last fall, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told Trump the site would share prices for consumers before the end of the year. An expected launch in late January was also pushed back.
The president has spent the past several months seeking to spotlight his efforts to lower drug prices for Americans. He’s done that through deals with major pharmaceutical companies, including some of the biggest drugmakers like Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Merck, which have agreed to lower prices of their Medicaid drugs to so-called “most favored nations” pricing. As part of the deals, many of the companies' new drugs are also to be launched at discounted rates for consumer markets through TrumpRx.
Many of the details of Trump's deals with manufacturers remain unclear, and drug prices for patients in the U.S. can depend on many factors, including the competition a treatment faces and insurance coverage. Most people have coverage through work, the individual insurance market or government programs like Medicaid and Medicare, which shield them from much of the cost.
Trump’s administration also has negotiated lower prices for several prescription drugs for Medicare enrollees, through a direct negotiation program created by a 2022 law.
President Donald Trump greets Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz after en event about TrumpRx in the South Court Auditorium in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
National Design Studio director Joe Gebbia and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz talk about TrumpRx during an event with President Donald Trump in the South Court Auditorium in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks about TrumpRx in the South Court Auditorium in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
