California officials from both parties criticized Donald Trump after he said Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego. The White House says the president was describing a threat he wanted to prevent, not calling for an attack.
Trump made the remarks at a campaign rally in Nebraska on Monday, October 5. He was discussing higher gasoline prices amid the war with Iran and called them a small price to pay for the security of the United States and the world from Iran’s nuclear threat. He then said: “They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. It’s a small price to pay,” adding that the conflict would soon be over. His supporters applauded.
The speech was difficult to follow. Trump had been criticising his former presidential opponent Kamala Harris over the midterm elections and returned to Iran after discussing gasoline prices and a war he had mentioned several minutes earlier. He did not always make clear which subject he was referring to, leaving room for sharply different interpretations.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said Trump had “put a target” on two of the state’s largest cities and one of the country’s major naval centres. He called the remarks dangerous and wrote on X that they could amount to treason. Newsom said he had asked the state Threat Assessment Center to monitor the situation in case foreign actors interpreted the president’s words as an invitation to target California.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the comments could compromise the city’s safety. A president’s job, she said, is to protect the country, not threaten it or encourage attacks that would cause American casualties. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wrote that his city was not expendable and that American lives should not be described as a small price to pay.
Republican Jim Desmond, a congressional candidate in a district that includes San Diego, also condemned the remarks. The United States should stand up to Iran and defend its interests, he said, but the commander-in-chief’s primary responsibility is to protect the American people and the country. No US city, he added, should be treated as expendable, and no family as collateral damage.
The White House rejected that interpretation. Communications director Steven Cheung accused the media of misrepresenting Trump and said the president was explaining that American cities would be at risk if a nuclear-armed Iran were not stopped. A White House social media account echoed that response, saying the United States was fighting to prevent Tehran from gaining the ability to destroy Los Angeles and San Diego with nuclear weapons.
The dispute came less than a month before congressional midterm elections. The Nebraska rally was part of Trump’s tour of states that usually support Republicans but are expected to see competitive races. Trump won Nebraska by more than 20 percentage points in 2024. Rising prices linked to the Iran war and tariffs have weakened his standing, however, creating a more favourable environment for Democrats.