Trump repeats claim that he opposed Iraq war -- then backtracks after pro-war interview surfaces

Republican presidential candidate doubled down, then backtracked on Thursday regarding his claim that he had always opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"I'm the one from 2002, 2003 who said we shouldn't be doing it," Trump told CNN's Anderson Cooper early on during a GOP town hall event in Columbia, South Carolina.

However, Cooper later noted to the real estate mogul that, according to Buzzfeed, he actually backed the war during a 2002 interview with radio host Howard Stern.

"Are you for invading Iraq?" Stern asked at the time.

"Yeah, I guess so," Trump told him. "I wish the first time it was done correctly."

When told about the report, Trump replied by saying, "I could have said that. Nobody asked me. I wasn't a politician. It was probably the first time anybody asked me that question."

By the time the war began, he added, he opposed the war.

Watch footage from the interview, as posted online, below.