While the president has persisted in his promotion of the promise of hydroxychloroquine by highlighting anecdotal stories of success when the drug has been used, the nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has said there is no scientific evidence to support an endorsement of the drug.
\"The answer is no,\" Fauci told a reporter bluntly last month, while standing beside the president, when questioned about the drug's potential promise.
\"The information that you're referring to specifically is anecdotal,\" Fauci told the reporter. \"It was not done in a controlled clinical trial. So you really can't make any definitive statement about it.\"
Earlier in April, the president even appeared to block Fauci from further contradicting him when a reporter sought to ask Fauci again whether there is any evidence of the drug's success, in light of the president's continued promotion of the drug.
\"Do you know how many times he's answered that question? Maybe 15,\" Trump interjected before Fauci, who was standing at the podium, could answer the reporter's question.
![\"National](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/trump-fauci-2-rt-rc-200515_hpEmbed_13x8_384.jpg\")
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci looks down as President Donald Trump speaks about administration efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, in the Rose Garden of the White House, in Washington, May 15, 2020.
\"If it doesn't work, it's nothing lost by doing it. Nothing,\" Trump said that day in promoting the application of the drug as low-risk, a point he repeated to reporters Monday.
Asked what evidence he has that it has a preventative effect, the president said: \"Here we go. Are you ready? Here's my evidence. I get a lot of positive calls about it.\"
\"I want the people of this nation to feel good. I don't want them being sick. And there is a very good chance that this has an impact, especially early on. But you look at front-line workers. You look at doctors and nurses. A lot of them are taking it as a preventative,\" the president continued. \"What do you have to lose?\"
Notably, though the FDA warns against its use outside of a hospital setting, the agency is allowing frontline workers to use hydroxychloroquine as part of controlled, clinical trials.
Dr. William W. O'Neill, leading one of the largest studies of the drug's use as a potential preventative medication, has said safe studies are necessary to determine the medication's potential.
The randomized, double-blinded study he's overseeing is a 3,000-subject look at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit at whether hydroxychloroquine prevents front-line workers from contracting the COVID-19 virus.
\"We are not involved in politics; we are scientists,\" Dr. O'Neill, a world-renowned interventional cardiologist and researcher, said on May 8.
\"This is a drug that has been used safely for more than 70 years to prevent malaria and treat other issues like lupus, with the potential to have active effect on COVID-19,\" O'Neill said, a sentiment Trump echoed Monday at his surprise announcement. \"We owe it to people -- particularly front-line workers -- to scientifically determine if it works.\"
O'Neill also said that whether it works, \"having those results produced in a scientific manner moves us toward the goal of knowing how to protect our frontline workers.\"
Other countries including Spain and Brazil have also launched large scale studies for front-line workers testing hydroxychloroquine's effectiveness in preventing the virus.
Currently, there are no FDA-approved preventative medications or vaccines for COVID-19.
ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
This report was featured in the Tuesday, May 19, 2020, episode of \"Start Here,\" ABC News' daily news podcast.
\"Start Here\" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.
What to know about the coronavirus:
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