Back on September 30, 2008, Donald Trump was asked by CNN's Kiran Chetry what he thought of the plan to bail out failing banks. What he told her:
"Well, I think it would be better if it passed. I'm not sure that it's going to work. A lot of people are not -- you know, it is trial and error. This is very complicated. This is more complicated than sending rockets to the moon. Nobody really knows what impact it's going to have. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn't. But certainly it is worth a shot."
...On October 19, CNN invited Trump back on and asked him, for some reason, to give world letter grades on how they'd handled the crisis.
BLITZER: All right. Henry Paulson.
TRUMP: I would give him an A.
BLITZER: Really?
TRUMP: I'd give him an A. And I know a lot of people are saying, oh, this and that. But the fact is, he came into a mess. He didn't create the mess, and he's helping us get out of the mess.
...BLITZER: The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Ben B., as you call him.
TRUMP: I think that he has -- was a little bit late on the draw, but he's come around strongly, and I would give him a B-plus. A good, strong B-plus.
Look, I mean, these people inherited a mess. And they weren't necessarily to blame for it and they're trying to fix it.