By 2004 most of the nation knew invading a country that did nothing to the U.S. was a huge mistake - many knew BEFORE 2004...What is important is what Trump told Howard Stern before 2004, which Matt Lauer didn't know, or just chose to ignore. There are stories today about how confrontational Trump and his "adviser" Flynn were with the intell officers charged with briefing Trump - to the point that Chris Christie had to tell Flynn to "calm down".
It always seemed enough to label Trump a lose cannon to get the message out that he shoots from the hip when he shoots his mouth off, but it's obvious he's more than a lose cannon - he is downright dangerous.