Less than a week after his inauguration, US President Donald Trump has removed the security protection for former top US health official Anthony Fauci, media reports said.

President Donald Trump has terminated Dr. Anthony Fauci’s security detail that was being provided and paid for by the National Institutes of Health, a source familiar with the situation tells CNN.

In his career, Fauci had served as the nation’s top infectious disease official during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Given he continues to face ongoing threats due to his public-facing role during the Covid-19 pandemic, Fauci has now hired his own private security that he’ll pay for himself, the source told CNN.

Since coming to power, Trump has ended the security details of several other leading figures from the previous administration.

These leaders included former national security adviser John Bolton and ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“I think you know, when you work for government … at some point, your security detail comes off, and you know, you can’t have them forever,” Trump was quoted as saying by CNN.

“They all made a lot of money. They can hire their own security too. All the people you’re talking about, they can go out, I can give them some good numbers of very good security people. They can hire their own security. They all made a lot of money. Fauci made a lot of money," he said.