The billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates said in a new interview that he turned down US President Donald Trump’s offer to be the administration’s science adviser, saying “That’s not a good use of my time.”
Gates told the Stat News that he mentioned to Trump that he was worried about the vacancy during a 40-minute meeting with the president.
"I mentioned: 'Hey, maybe we should have a science adviser,'" Gates told the website. "He said: Did I want to be the science adviser?" It is unclear if Trump was serious about the offer, something that Gates concedes.
"I didn't put him to the test, whether that was a serious thing or not. He probably himself didn't know if he was serious. It was a friendly thing. He was being friendly," he told Stat.
The position has been empty since former President Barack Obama’s director of science and technology policy, John Holdren, resigned at the end of that administration.
