“I wish the first time it was done correctly," Donald Trump said to Howard Stern about Iraq. | AP Photo Trump supported invading Iraq in 2002 The GOP candidate says he opposed the 2003 invasion, but a year prior he told Howard Stern he supported going in.

Donald Trump often touts that he was against the war in Iraq, but in 2002 he expressed support for an invasion.

Trump, who was being interviewed by Howard Stern, said that “yeah, I guess so” when asked if he was for invading the country.


“Are you for invading Iraq?” Stern asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Trump responded. “I wish the first time it was done correctly.”

At Saturday's GOP debate, Trump claimed he opposed invading Iraq in the run-up to the 2003 war.

"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," Trump said. "And I said it loud and strong. And I was 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."

Trump on Thursday night again claimed he had opposed the war in 2002-2003, and then he additionally said that George H.W. Bush had handled Iraq correctly in 1992's Operation Desert Storm--statements which are both at odds with his 2002 claims.

Trump was confronted about the audio tape during the Thursday town hall. The candidate said he "may" have made the comments, but said that he was against the war by the time it started, and that he was not "a politician" at the time.

"That was probaly the first time I was asked about the war," he said.

The Stern audio was first reported by BuzzFeed.