Trump says he's taking hydroxychloroquine

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump is apparently no longer simply touting the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as an effective coronavirus treatment — he says he's actually taking it as a preventative measure.

Trump told reporters Monday that he's been taking the medication, which hasn't been proven to effectively treat COVID-19 and has been warned to come with potentially serious side effects, for about a week and a half, with the permission of a White House physician.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.