Trump Suggests Abraham Lincoln Should’ve Let the South Keep a Little Slavery | Vanity FairSkip to main contentOpen Navigation MenuMenuSearchSearchPoliticsBusinessHollywoodStyleCultureRoyalsCelebrityVideoPodcastsArchiveVF ShopWhat Is Cinema?ArchiveVF ShopMagazinePoliticsTrump Suggests Abraham Lincoln Should’ve Let the South Keep a Little SlaveryHe answered a 10-year-old’s question about his favorite president by saying Lincoln should have “settled” the Civil War.By Bess LevinOctober 18, 2024OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, holds a town hall at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center on October 14, 2024 in Oaks, Pennsylvania. His rival, Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, is speaking in Western Pennsylvania city of Erie.  (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesSave this storySaveSave this storySaveDonald Trump appeared on Fox News this morning, where, during a characteristically bizarre interview, he suggested Abraham Lincoln could have avoided the Civil War by cutting a deal with the South—which, as a reminder, wanted slavery to remain legal.Asked by a 10-year-old who his favorite president was when he was “little,” Trump began by saying he “liked Ronald Reagan.” (Note: Trump was 34 when Reagan first took office, and 42 when he left.) Then he turned to Lincoln, who he believes was a great president—but could’ve been better if he’d “settled” the Civil War.“Great presidents?” Trump said. “Lincoln was probably a great president, although I’ve always said, why wasn’t that settled? You know, I’m a guy that—it doesn’t make sense we had a Civil War…. You’d almost say, like, why wasn’t that [settled]? As an example, Ukraine would have never happened, and Russia, if I were president. Israel would have never happened; October 7 would have never happened, as you know.”X contentThis content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.It’s not exactly clear what Trump thinks Lincoln should have done to “settle” the dispute between the North and the South, the latter of which seceded from the Union largely because it wanted to keep enslaving people. Does Trump think Abe should have come to the negotiating table, Art of the Deal–style, and let the South keep some slaves? Because that’s what it sounds like.As for the idea that “Ukraine would have never happened…if I were president,” or October 7 for that matter, these are claims that he has repeatedly made with zero evidence to back them up. 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They did. With the 13th amendment