Trump Can’t Recall if He Fired the Head of Social Security or if She Quit: ‘I Don’t Know’

President Donald Trump seemed taken aback at a press conference on Tuesday when a reporter asked about the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration quitting the day before.

Trump appointed Michelle King the acting commissioner on Jan. 20, but she lasted less than a month after clashing with Republican megadonor Elon Musk, who is calling some of the shots at several government agencies. According to The Washington Post, Musk and his “Department of Government Efficiency” sought access to sensitive records at the administration, which prompted King to resign in protest on Monday. To replace her, Trump appointed Leland Dudek, the head of Social Security’s anti-fraud division.

Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, the president fielded a question about the row:

REPORTER: Your reaction to Michelle King, the head, resigning after–

TRUMP: Who resigned?

REPORTER: The head of Social Security.

TRUMP: I don’t know. I mean, I– resigned or got fired. I think I fired. You know, when you fire somebody, they always resign and then they say, “We resigned.”

Trump went on to refer to dubious claims from Musk about alleged fraud at the Social Security Administration, including checks being sent to people who were born in the 1870s.

“When you have numbers like that, I think, really, it’s, got fired,” Trump added. “They have to get fired. Who would keep them? How could you have numbers like this? The big thing is, how many of these people got paid? Were they getting paid? How many of them were getting paid Social Security? Because if that’s the case, it’s a massive fraud.”

Watch above via C-SPAN.