Trump under fire for claiming Civil War could have been avoided in bizarre Iowa speech

Donald Trump has faced backlash for comments he made during a speech in Iowa on Saturday, 6 January.

Mr Trump claimed that the American Civil War, which was fought over slavery, could have been negotiated and didn’t need to happen.

He told the crowd of supporters: “I’m so attracted to seeing it. There was something that could’ve been negotiated… Abraham Lincoln, if he negotiated it, we wouldn’t know who Lincoln was. He wouldn’t have been the Abraham Lincoln. But that would’ve been ok.”

Former Republican Rep Liz Cheney responded online, saying: “Which part of the Civil War ‘could have been negotiated’? The slavery part? The secession part? Whether Lincoln should have preserved the Union?”

Mr Trump is currently in the lead to secure the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential election.