Donald Trump yadda yaddas his past support for the Iraq war: 'Blah, blah, blah, yes, I guess'

Donald Trump downplayed evidence of his early support for the war in Iraq — an invasion he has insisted throughout his campaign that he opposed from the get-go — when confronted by Fox News' Bret Baier on Thursday evening.

After Trump mentioned his criticism of the war, Baier pointed out that during an interview with Howard Stern in 2002, Trump answered, "Yeah, I guess" when asked whether he backed the invasion. Trump's account to Baier was a little different: "I'm talking to Howard Stern, weeks before, the first time anybody had ever asked," he said, "and don't forget, I was a civilian. The first time anyone ever asked me about the war, about should we go in, because it was a question, are we going in? And I said very weakly, well, blah, blah, blah, yes, I guess."

Baier then recalled Trump's declaration of the war as "a tremendous success from a military standpoint" on its very first day. "What I said is it was a success, because they thought it was a success," Trump countered, before insisting again, contrary to the available reports, that he opposed the invasion before it happened.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But hey, if Trump doesn't want to dwell on his Iraq record, perhaps the real story here is that The Donald said he did something "weakly."