Trump: America Was Great During the Reagan and Clinton Years

CAMEROTA: “I know that that's your slogan, Mr. Trump, ‘Make America great again,’ and I'm curious. When was America great? In your mind, when was the heyday? What was the year that America was great?” 
TRUMP: “Well, it's been -- it's been hurt badly. I mean, honestly -- and it's before this president, too. Going into Iraq was a tremendous mistake. And by the way, I was the only one with a vision of all of these candidates -- I was the one with the vision, don't do it. But going into Iraq was a tremendous mistake for our country. It destabilized the Middle East. And that was Bush's fault. It destabilized the Middle East.” 
CAMEROTA: “OK.”
TRUMP: “Iran is taking over Iraq, they're going to take over those massive oil reserves, everything else. And by the way, ISIS has a good chunk of them, too.” 
CAMEROTA: “OK.”
TRUMP: “That was all created -- that was a bad mistake, and I think that has been –“
CAMEROTA: “Yes. And you are on the record about that. So –“
TRUMP: “I think Iraq has been -- You know, we spent $2 trillion -- Instead of rebuilding our country, we spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives, wounded warriors all over -- who I love.” 
CAMEROTA: “Of course. You're on the record that the Iraq war was a mistake. So prior to the Iraq War, are you saying the Clinton years were when America was great?” 
TRUMP: “I would say that Reagan and Clinton, it was -- We didn't -- the country wasn't decimated like it is now. The country didn't owe $19 trillion, Alisyn. The country -- I mean, right now, we owe $1.5 trillion to China. We owe $1.5 trillion to Japan. Think of it: They suck our money out; they suck our jobs out; and we owe them money. That's like a magic trick. Right? We owe them. So we owe them $1.5 trillion each, and yet they do nothing but take our money.”