Trump sounds off on the Civil War, again goes after John McCain and criticizes magnets

Donald Trump had much to say — about the Civil War, about a recent school shooting, about magnets — in his return this past weekend to campaign in Iowa with just days before voting starts in the 2024 primary race.

The former president also sparked backlash for his comments about whether Abraham Lincoln could have negotiated an end to the Civil War, about the late Sen. John McCain (a frequent foe) and as he once again labeled people prosecuted in connection with Jan. 6 as «hostages» — echoing how he is focusing on his own legal troubles and retribution in his closing message to Iowans.

While giving remarks in Newton, Iowa, on Saturday, Trump said the Civil War was «so horrible, but so fascinating,» going on to suggest that the conflict, which was fought over the issue of slavery, could have been negotiated.

«See, there was something I think could've been negotiated, to be honest with you. I think you could've negotiated that. All the people died, so many people died,» he said.

Trump's comments came in the wake of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley stirring her own controversy for not initially citing slavery as the cause of the Civil War in response to a question while on the campaign trail late last month. Trump, who said he would've cited slavery had he been asked that question, on Saturday went on to say that President Lincoln wouldn't have been as famous if he did negotiate to end the war.

«If he negotiated it, you probably wouldn't even know who Abraham Lincoln was,» Trump said. «He would have been president, but he would have been president and would have been — he wouldn't have been the Abraham Lincoln.»

Some Republican critics soon seized on Trump's unusual comments, questioning what the former president was trying to