Quotes by Donald Trump on His Support for the Iraq War
#DonaldTrump 9/11/02: "Yeah, I guess so ❲I’m for invading Iraq❳." » #Trump 2/6/16: "I was the one that said, ‘Don’t go, don’t do it, you’re going to destabilize the Middle East.’" Click To Tweet
Quotes by Donald Trump on His Support for the Iraq War
THEN
2000 - 2008

“Six years of tough talk and U.S. fireworks in Baghdad have done little to slow Iraq‘s crash program to become a nuclear power… Saddam Hussein wouldn’t let UN weapons inspectors examine certain sites where that material might be stored. The result when our bombing was over? We still don’t know what Iraq is up to or whether it has the material to build nuclear weapons. I’m no warmonger. But the fact is, if we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion. When we don’t, we have the worst of all worlds: Iraq remains a threat, and now has more incentive than ever to attack us.”
- Jan, 2000
Donald Trump's book 'The America We Deserve'
Donald Trump (via Buzzfeed), Jan, 2000
There's No Record Of Donald Trump Being Against The Iraq War Before It Started
- Sept 11, 2002
Howard Stern interview
Buzzfeed, Feb 18, 2016
In 2002, Donald Trump Said He Supported Invading Iraq
- Jan 28, 2003
Neil Cavuto interview on the night of George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address
Fox Business (via FactCheck.org), Feb 19, 2016
Donald Trump and the Iraq War
March 19, 2003: The Iraq War begins
- March 21, 2003
Neil Cavuto interview
Fox Business (via FactCheck.org), Feb 19, 2016
Donald Trump and the Iraq War
- March 22, 2003
San Antonio Express-News (via FactCheck.org), Feb 19, 2016
Donald Trump and the Iraq War
- March 23, 2003
Washington Post, March 25, 2003
Hollywood Partyers, Soldiering On
- July 1, 2003
MSNBC ('Hardball with Chris Matthews' via FactCheck.org), Feb 19, 2016
Donald Trump and the Iraq War
- Sept 11, 2003
MSNBC ('Scarborough Country' via FactCheck.org), Feb 19, 2016
Donald Trump and the Iraq War
Tremendous amounts of money being pumped into Iraq. I mean, you look at states like New York and California, where they can`t afford school systems, and we are giving $87 billion to Iraq and that is just the beginning. So, you know, it is a tremendous cost to this country, what’s gone on there, and again, we are getting some very, very unpleasant surprises in Iraq, and hopefully something is going to be done about it quickly…
“I mean, you see more and more doves, if you call them doves. The question is whether or not we should have been in Iraq in the first place… I mean, the country is starting to do well, so I think the whole shift is going to be very much toward the war.”
- Nov 4, 2003
MSNBC ('Hardball with Chris Matthews' via FactCheck.org), Feb 19, 2016
Donald Trump and the Iraq War
“You have Mr. [Howard] Dean, that’s going to say we shouldn’t have been there regardless. And you have others that are saying, well, we are there and we have to do the best. I mean, we are there, regardless of what should have been done. Some people agree and some people don’t agree, but we are there. And if we are there, you have to take down Saddam Hussein. And they have done that, and they did it maybe not as quickly as they thought in terms of finding him, but they found him. And that is a huge day for this country.”
- Dec 15, 2003
Neil Cavuto interview
Fox Business (via FactCheck.org), Feb 19, 2016
Donald Trump and the Iraq War
“What was the purpose of this whole thing? Hundreds and hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and legs? Not to mention the other side. All those Iraqi kids who’ve been blown to pieces. And it turns out that all of the reasons for the war were blatantly wrong. All this for nothing!”
- Aug 2004
Esquire, August, 2004
Donald Trump: How I'd Run the Country (Better)
- July 16, 2008
Howard Stern Show (via Factbase), July 16, 2008
Interview: Donald Trump on The Howard Stern Show - July 16, 2008
- Oct 15, 2008
CNN, Oct 15, 2008
Transcripts: Interview With Donald Trump; McCain, Obama Prepare For Final Debate
#Trump 7/08: "No ❲I was not always against the Iraq War❳." » #Trump 9/15: "I…fought very, very hard against…going into Iraq…I said, ‘You’re going to destabilize the Middle East.’" Click To Tweet
NOW
2015 - 2020

Sept 16, 2015 -
Republican primary debate in Simi Valley, California
CNN, Sept 16, 2015
Transcript: GOP Presidential Debate. September 16, 2015
“And you know what we’ve gotten for Iraq? We’ve spent $2 trillion, OK? We’ve — thousands, hundreds of thousands of people killed. We’ve lost thousands and thousands of our great young people, soldiers. So, $2 trillion, deaths, wounded warriors, we have nothing and Iran is now taking over Iraq with the second largest oil reserves in the world. And I said, don’t go in.”
Dec 20, 2015 -
'This Week' interview
ABC News, Dec 20, 2015
'This Week' Transcript: Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump
Jan 3, 2016 -
CBS News, Jan 3, 2016
Face the Nation transcripts January 3, 2016: Trump, Morell & Donilon
Feb 6, 2016 -
Republican primary debate in New Hampshire
Washington Post, Feb 6, 2016
Transcript of the New Hampshire GOP debate, annotated
“I’m the only one on this stage that said: ‘Do not go into Iraq. Do not attack Iraq.’ Nobody else on this stage said that. And I said it loud and strong. And I Iraq in the private sector. I wasn’t a politician, fortunately. But I said it, and I said it loud and clear, ‘You’ll destabilize the Middle East.’ That’s exactly what happened.”
Feb 13, 2016 -
Republican primary debate in Greenville, South Carolina
New York Times, Feb 14, 2016
Transcript of the Republican Presidential Debate
Sept 7, 2016 -
Time, Sept 7, 2016
Read Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's Remarks at a Military Forum
Sept 8, 2016 -
The Hill, Sept 8, 2016
Trump slams 'lies' about him supporting the Iraq War
“That was long– that was way before. If you look at just before the war started I said, ‘Don’t do it. It’s a mistake. You’re gonna destabilize the Middle East.’ From the beginning, I was opposed to the war in Iraq. Then they did magazine articles right after the started, I was opposed to it then. And that was 100 percent.”
Oct 27, 2016 -
ABC News, Oct 27, 2016
Full Transcript: George Stephanopoulos Goes One-on-One with Donald Trump
June 23, 2019 -
NBC News, June 23, 2019
President Trump's full, unedited interview with Meet the Press
Oct 9, 2019 -
The United States has spent EIGHT TRILLION DOLLARS fighting and policing in the Middle East. Thousands of our Great Soldiers have died or been badly wounded. Millions of people have died on the other side. GOING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2019
….IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY! We went to war under a false & now disproven premise, WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. There were NONE! Now we are slowly & carefully bringing our great soldiers & military home. Our focus is on the BIG PICTURE! THE USA IS GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2019
Oct 12, 2019 -
Factbase, Oct 12, 2019
Speech: Donald Trump Addresses the Value Voters Summit in Washington - October 12, 2019
“If you read about the history of Donald Trump, I was a civilian. I had absolutely nothing to do with going into Iraq and I was totally against it…
“President Bush went in. I strongly disagreed with it, even though it wasn’t my expertise at the time, but I had a — I have a very good it wasn’t my expertise at the time, but I had a — I have a very good instinct about things. They went in and I said that’s a tremendous mistake. And there were no weapons of mass destruction. It turned out I was right. I — I was right for other reasons but it turned out, on top of everything else, they had no weapons of mass destruction.”
Oct 28, 2019 -
Washington Post, Oct 28, 2019
Trump’s news conference on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death, annotated
Feb 29, 2020 -
White House, Feb 29, 2020
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Conference
June 17, 2020 -
Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2020
Transcript of President Trump’s Interview With The Wall Street Journal
Context
There is no evidence that Donald Trump opposed the Iraq War before it began in March 2003, his repeated claims during the 2016 election that he said he repeatedly opposed the war “loud and strong” before it began notwithstanding. To the contrary Trump supported going into Iraq before the war, albeit tepidly (“Yeah, I guess so”).
Trump did not clearly oppose the Iraq War until almost a year and half after it began, in an August 2004 Esquire article, when the situation on the ground was deteriorating and popular support for the war was sinking.1Pew Research Center, 3/19/08
Public Attitudes Toward the War in Iraq: 2003-2008
retrieved 1/4/19
#Trump 9/11/02: "Yeah, I guess so ❲I’m for invading Iraq❳." » #Trump 9/8/16: "Iraq is one of the biggest differences in this race. I opposed going in…despite the media saying no, yes, no, I opposed going in." Click To Tweet