Bill Gates said in a new interview that he turned down President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE’s offer to be the administration’s science adviser, saying “That’s not a good use of my time.”

Gates told the health and science site Stat News that he mentioned to Trump that he was worried about the vacancy during a 40-minute meeting with the president.

Gates said Trump offered him the position, but added that he didn’t know if the president's offer was serious.

“I didn’t put him to the test, whether that was a serious thing or not,” Gates said.

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“He probably himself didn’t know if he was serious. It was a friendly thing. He was being friendly.”

The position has been empty since former President Obama’s director of science and technology policy, John Holdren, resigned at the end of that administration.

The billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder has met with Trump several times to advocate for a universal flu vaccine.

Gates told Stat News that Trump was “super interested” in the idea.