The long-standing government-funded security detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci has been officially pulled.

President Trump confirmed the news Friday while speaking with reporters during a tour of Asheville, North Carolina, to survey progress in recovery from Hurricane Helene.

“When you work for government, at some point your security detail comes off. And you know, you can’t have them forever. So, I think it’s very standard,” he said. When asked in a follow-up question if he would feel any responsibility should anything happen to Dr. Fauci, Mr. Trump said he would not.

“You know, they all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security, too,” Mr. Trump said. “Certainly, I would not take responsibility.”

The National Institutes of Health first requested security for the Former Chief Medical Advisor in 2020 when he began to receive threats during the Covid pandemic. The detail was pulled on Thursday evening, according to Fox News.

The cost of the detail is estimated to have been $15 million in taxpayer funds, according to CBS News.

Dr. Fauci, who has been retired from his position at NIH since the end of 2022, has already hired his own personal security detail, according to a report from the New York Times.

He was a frequent target of conservative critics during the height of the pandemic. In 2022, a West Virginia man pled guilty to sending death threats to Dr. Fauci and other federal officials.

The move is just the latest in security clearances Mr. Trump has pulled since returning to the White House earlier this week, including the details provided to national security advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Pompeo.

He also stripped the clearances of dozens of Intelligence officials who claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”