Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday:
Remember this: When we got out, we shoulda taken the oil. I'll never forget, some of the pundints [sic], most of them, they don't have the brains they were born with, they said, "They're talking about a sovereign country!" Iraq! Crooked as hell. How about bringing baskets of money, millions and millions of dollars, and handing it out. I wanna know, who were the soldiers that had that job? Cuz I think they're living very well right now, whoever they may be.
Trump’s spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, later claimed that her boss was referring only to Iraqi soldiers, an almost-clever dodge worthy of devious teenager. More likely, as observers noted on Twitter, Trump had just finished a re-watch of the 1999 George Clooney film Three Kings and mistook it for a documentary.
Video of Trump’s remarks is below.