Woody Harrelson has never been especially cautious when speaking his mind, but one of his harshest comments about Donald Trump is suddenly reaching millions of people all over again.
In a video circulating widely on social media in September 2026, the Oscar-nominated actor can be heard criticizing Trump in extraordinarily direct language. At one point, Harrelson says he wished there were a way to replace him with what he considered a “great president.”
The clip is real. The words are Harrelson’s.
But there is one crucial piece of context missing from many of the posts sharing it today: Harrelson did not make these remarks in 2026.
The interview was recorded nearly nine years ago, on October 25, 2017, during Donald Trump’s first presidency. The Associated Press spoke with Harrelson at an event connected to LBJ, the biographical drama in which he portrayed President Lyndon B. Johnson. The old footage has resurfaced repeatedly in 2026, sometimes without its original date attached, causing some viewers to interpret it as a new political statement. (ReportWire)
What Woody Harrelson Actually Said
Harrelson was discussing the political climate of the United States when he turned his attention to Trump.
He accused the then-president of bringing existing racial divisions and prejudice to the surface and said he believed the country appeared to be moving backward.
Then came the sentence that has fueled the renewed attention.
Harrelson said he wished there were a way to “get rid of” Trump and replace him with a president he considered great. He also accused Trump of continuing to “foment hatred.” (ReportWire)
The language was unmistakably strong.
But viewed in its proper timeline, the interview tells a somewhat different story than many current social-media posts suggest.
Harrelson was reacting to the political climate of 2017, not issuing a fresh response to developments during Trump’s current presidency.
Why the Clip Is Suddenly Everywhere Again
Old celebrity interviews frequently find second lives online, especially when their subject becomes relevant again.
That appears to be what happened here.
The footage had already resurfaced prominently in February 2026, when a widely shared post accumulated millions of views. Fact-checking coverage subsequently traced the comments back to the 2017 Associated Press interview and noted that many people encountering the clip appeared to believe Harrelson had made the statement recently. (ReportWire)
Now the remarks are circulating once more in September.
Recent coverage published September 18 reported that the interview had again spread widely on X, with users sharing Harrelson’s criticism of Trump. (The Pink Times)
That means two things can simultaneously be true.
Harrelson really did say it.
And it isn’t a new quote.
The Timing of the Original Interview Matters
The context surrounding the conversation helps explain why Harrelson was talking about presidents in the first place.
He had portrayed Lyndon B. Johnson in director Rob Reiner’s LBJ, a political drama examining Johnson’s unexpected rise to the presidency following John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the enormous political battles that followed.
Playing Johnson had forced Harrelson to spend considerable time thinking about presidential leadership.
In another 2017 interview, he contrasted Johnson with Trump, describing Johnson as someone deeply experienced in government and concerned with presidential dignity. Harrelson’s assessment of Trump was considerably harsher. (The Daily Beast)
And his criticism wasn’t confined to a single interview.
Months earlier, in May 2017, Harrelson participated in a reader Q&A with The Guardian. Asked about Trump, he said he couldn’t identify a positive accomplishment from the president at that point and had been hoping Trump would surprise him. (The Guardian)
His views in the AP interview were therefore consistent with comments he was making publicly during that period.
Harrelson Had Actually Met Trump Years Earlier
There is another curious chapter to this story.
Harrelson’s opinion wasn’t based entirely on watching Trump from afar.
The two men had actually met.
Years before Trump entered the White House, Harrelson attended a dinner with him and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.
Harrelson later recalled that Ventura invited him because Trump was interested in discussing the possibility of Ventura joining him on a hypothetical presidential ticket.
The encounter happened around 2002.
And Harrelson apparently didn’t enjoy it.
During a 2017 appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, the actor described the dinner as “brutal” and said Trump dominated the conversation. According to Harrelson, he eventually stepped outside during the lengthy encounter before returning. (TheWrap)
He had told a similar version of the story even before Trump became president.
During the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, Harrelson recalled listening to Trump discuss his possessions and wealth during the dinner. He said the experience left him deeply unimpressed. (CityNews Toronto)
His Criticism Started Before Trump Entered the White House
Harrelson was already publicly critical of Trump while Trump was still campaigning for president.
Speaking about the 2016 presidential race, he argued that the United States needed leadership focused on unity rather than division and described Trump as the wrong kind of leader for that moment. (Screen Daily)
At the Toronto International Film Festival that year, Harrelson also criticized Trump’s public behavior while recounting their earlier dinner together. (CityNews Toronto)
So when Harrelson made the now-viral comments in October 2017, they weren’t an isolated outburst.
They reflected views he had expressed publicly over a period of time.
The Internet Changed the Timeline
What makes the story particularly revealing in 2026 is how easily the internet can detach a statement from the moment in which it was originally made.
The footage itself doesn’t look particularly dated.
Harrelson is recognizable. Trump is once again president. And the subject being discussed remains politically relevant.
Remove the original interview date, upload a short excerpt to social media and suddenly something said during Trump’s first year in office can look like a reaction to his second administration.
Some recent coverage has itself described the remarks in present-tense language, which can further blur that distinction. But reporting that traced the original footage confirms the AP interview was recorded on October 25, 2017 at an event for LBJ. (ReportWire)
That’s why the date isn’t merely trivia.
It changes what the video actually tells us.
What the Viral Video Does — and Doesn’t — Establish
The resurfaced footage provides clear evidence of what Harrelson thought about Trump in 2017.
It does not, by itself, establish what Harrelson thinks about every action or controversy involving Trump in September 2026.
Those are separate questions.
Harrelson’s previous comments demonstrate that his criticism of Trump was sustained across multiple interviews in 2016 and 2017. (The Guardian)
But an old video should still be presented as an old video.
Without that context, viewers are being shown authentic words attached to an inaccurate timeline.
Nearly Nine Years Later, the Quote Has Found a New Audience
There is something unusual about watching a political interview return almost a decade after it was recorded.
When Harrelson spoke those words in October 2017, Trump had been president for less than a year.
LBJ was about to arrive in American theaters.
And nobody knew that the same clip would be circulating across social media again in 2026.
Yet here it is.
Harrelson’s language remains striking enough that a few seconds of old footage can still generate arguments, headlines and millions of views.
The simplest version of the story, however, is also the most accurate:
Woody Harrelson really did deliver an extraordinarily blunt criticism of Donald Trump — but he delivered it in 2017, not 2026.
Nearly nine years later, the internet has simply given his words a second life. (ReportWire)
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