Trump marvels that people 'don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War?'

President Trump wondered aloud about why the Civil War happened in a befuddling interview with Salena Zito for SiriusXM's POTUS channel. "People don't realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?" Trump said. "People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War?"

As is covered in most history classes in America, seven southern states decided to secede from the Union in 1860 to form the Confederate States of America after Abraham Lincoln, who promised an end to slavery, was elected in November of that year.

In talking with Zito, Trump additionally claimed that if the "swashbuckler" Andrew Jackson had been "a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War."

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"He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart," Trump said. "He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, 'There's no reason for this.'"

Andrew Jackson died in 1845, 15 years before the election of Lincoln and 16 years before the first battle of the Civil War. Jeva Lange