Donald Trump on evidence he backed Bush's Iraq invasion: 'By the time the war started, I was against it'

Donald Trump explains his 2002 support for the Iraq War
(Image credit: CNN/YouTube)

On Thursday night, BuzzFeed News posted an audio clip of Donald Trump being interviewed by Howard Stern on Sept. 11, 2002, where Stern asked Trump if he favored invading Iraq. "Yeah I guess so," Trump said. "I wish the first time it was done correctly." Since Trump has made his opposition to George W. Bush's Iraq War a centerpiece of his foreign policy, Anderson Cooper asked Trump about his 2002 comments — made about the same time Hillary Clinton and John Kerry cast their career-haunting Senate votes in favor of authorizing the invasion — during a town hall event hosted by CNN.

"I could have said that," Trump said. "I wasn't a politician, it was probably the first time anybody had asked me that question.... By the time the war started, I was against the war." There were articles in 2003 and 2004 that proved his opposition, Trump said. "When you're in the private sector... you get asked things, and you're not a politician," he added. "By the time the war started, I was against it. And shortly thereafter, I was really against it." You can watch the back-and-forth below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.