Despite risks, Trump says he's taking hydroxychloroquine

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he is taking a malaria drug to protect against the coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects.

Trump told reporters Monday he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily “for about a week and a half now.”

Trump has spent weeks pushing hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure or prophylaxis for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration’s top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus.

Later, in a move that could have far-reaching medical impact during the pandemic, Trump tweeted a letter he had sent to the World Health Organization threatening to permanently drop U.S. funding unless WHO commits to “substantive improvements" over the next 30 days. The U.S. provides $450 million a year to the organization.

Trump has accused WHO of giving “bad advice, terrible advice” and favoring China. In the letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump said “the only way forward” is if WHO can "demonstrate independence from China.” Before releasing the letter Trump had said he was considering cutting U.S. funding by more than 90%.

WHO announced Monday it would launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus, as most of its member states have requested. It did not commit to investigating the origins of the virus, another point of contention between Trump and China.

At the White House, Trump said his doctor did not recommend hydroxychloroquine to him, but that he...