Clip of Trump Nominating Powell Goes Viral After President Seemed to Forget It Happened

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In a resurfaced clip from 2017, President Donald Trump sang the praises of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell when he first nominated him.

For several months, Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell — and even floated the possibility of firing him — over Powell’s refusal to lower interest rates. Powell actually can’t decide to make interest rate changes on his own; a 12-person committee votes on such changes at the Fed. The president has called for the lowering of rates as a way to combat potential inflation stemming from his sweeping tariffs with U.S. trade partners.

On Wednesday, Fox News reported that Trump confided with Republican lawmakers on the potential firing of Powell. According to the report, they all agreed that Powell should be fired. Sources added that Powell’s ouster was imminent.

Not long after that report, Trump denied the rumor. That didn’t stop him from going right back on the offensive and criticizing Powell. Trump even questioned how Powell even came to be the chair of the Federal Reserve, saying he was “surprised” that Powell was appointed to the role and claimed he’d be “terrible” at it. The president appeared to forget that he was the one who appointed Powell in 2017.

In the resurfaced clip, Trump called it an “honor” to appoint him.

“As president, there are few decisions more important than nominating leaders of integrity and good judgment to hold trusted positions in public office,” Trump said in 2017, “and few of those trusted positions are more important than the chairman of Federal Reserve. Accordingly, it is my pleasure and my honor to announce my nomination of Jerome Powell to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. Congratulations.”

Social media users were quick to point out that Trump seemingly forgot the interaction ever happened.

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