Expanding Medicaid and Medicare coverage of weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy to roughly 7.4 million Americans would cost taxpayers up to $35 billion over the decade.

But it would also reduce out-of-pocket costs for fighting a condition which affects over 40 per cent of the adult population and one in five children.

Robert Kennedy Jr, Trump's nominee for health secretary, recently lambasted Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, for assuming Americans would buy the drug "because we're so stupid and so addicted".

Congress might feel more positive: Novo upped its lobbying spend to $3.4 million in the first six months of 2024, including campaign contributions.