Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in the United States presidential race, on Tuesday hailed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for his ability to deal with terrorists. Though the US invaded Iraq and destabilised the West Asian nation largely to take down Hussein, Trump said, “He was a bad guy – really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good.”

Using his preferred oratorial style of breaking complex geopolitical issues down to simple expressions, Trump went on to say, “They didn't read them the rights. They didn't talk. They were terrorists. Over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism.” His words were met with applause and laughter from the 2,000 people in the audience. In the past, Trump has both supported the Iraq invasion and decried it. His position on the war that left hundreds of thousands dead remains unclear.

Speaker of the House, Republican Paul Ryan, a when asked to comment on Trump’s remarks said, “[Hussein] was one of the most evil people of the 20th Century.” In October, Trump had praised other known dictators, saying the world would have been a better place if Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi (of Libya) were still in power.