Steven Hatfill, the virologist who helped push hydroxychloroquine into the national spotlight during the COVID-19 crisis, is back in Washington with a high-level appointment in President Donald Trump's administration — this time as a senior adviser for pandemic preparedness, The Washington Post reported.
Hatfill now serves as a special adviser in the director's office at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, a Department of Health and Human Services division tasked with preparing for biological, chemical, and public health disasters.
In an interview Saturday, Hatfill said he's focused on helping the agency "get us ready for the next pandemic," working closely with scientists to analyze the global threat landscape. "Not just for influenza, bird flu, or COVID, but other global diseases that could represent a threat to the U.S."
Hatfill worked alongside trade adviser Peter Navarro and Trump himself to promote hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as early treatments for COVID-19 — long before those drugs were scientifically validated or approved for such use. The Trump administration filled the Strategic National Stockpile with millions of doses, many of which were later distributed to hospitals and pharmacies nationwide.
The Food and Drug Administration ultimately revoked its emergency authorization for the drugs, citing an increased risk of cardiac complications and a lack of clinical benefit. "Reports of serious heart rhythm problems" were tied to both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, the FDA said in a June 2020 warning.
Despite that, Hatfill remains steadfast. "They gave the drug to the president," he said of Trump's 2020 treatment. "There is no ambiguity there. It is a safe drug."
He claimed "5,000 controlled, randomized studies" show the drug's effectiveness when used early, adding that one in 20 Americans with COVID-19 took ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine and "avoided hospitalization with no adverse heart events."
Hatfill's stance put him at odds with top health officials like Anthony Fauci, who led the White House's medical response at the time. Emails released by a Democrat-led House subcommittee revealed that Hatfill and Navarro repeatedly attacked Fauci's credibility, calling out what they saw as his "outrageous bias."
Before COVID-19, Hatfill was best known for being wrongly identified as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks. Federal agents surveilled him for years before ultimately exonerating him in 2008. The government paid him $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit over the ordeal.
Hatfill's return to public service comes amid questions over the future of the ASPR agency, which may be folded into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the latest Trump administration budget proposal. The agency continues to oversee emergency medical stockpiles and support biomedical research projects.
"The Trump administration is something you do for your country," Hatfill said. He recently relocated from Florida to Washington to begin his new post.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.