Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that he never said the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was a mistake, and said he only meant to say invading Iraq was a mistake.
“Okay, I never said that,” the Republican presidential front-runner told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota Tuesday morning when asked about his previous comments on the war in Afghanistan.
On Oct. 6, Trump was asked by CNN’s Chris Cuomo whether he supported keeping boots on the ground in Afghanistan to maintain stability in the country.
“I wouldn’t totally disagree with it, except, you know, at some point, are they going to be there for the next 200 years?” Trump first responded.
He then continued, “We made a terrible mistake getting involved there in the first place. We had brilliant thinkers that didn’t know what the hell they were doing, and it’s a mess.”
Trump said Tuesday he was specifically referring to Iraq at the time, despite having been asked only about Afghanistan.
“Afghanistan is a different thing,” he said Tuesday. “It’s next to Pakistan which has nuclear weapons. It’s a whole different kettle.” The billionaire also said he thinks it’s “important that [the U.S.] keep a presence [in Afghanistan] of about 5,000 soldiers.”
Last week, President Obama announced his decision to keep U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan through 2016, and that a reduced force would be there into 2017.
“In key areas of the country, the security situation is still very fragile, and in some places, there is risk of deterioration,” Obama said in a speech last Thursday.
