President Donald Trump on Monday said that Iran can “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego as a “small price to pay for keeping the world safe.”
Surrounded by his supporters in a rally at Grand Island, Nebraska, the president touched upon the ongoing war with Iran as he defended U.S. military action in the Middle East. The president also said the conflict will “end very soon” but failed to provide a timeline.
Trump said in his rally speech:
“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over very soon. It’s essentially almost over with, and they might keep going a little long, you know? They always say they have a big threshold for pain. They need it, let me tell you, they need it. But it’s going to end very soon. It will end one way or another.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to the backlash in a statement on X.
“The media freakout over President Trump’s comments is not rooted in reality,” Cheung wrote. “He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.”
Condemnation from California leaders rolled out quickly. Gov. Gavin Newsom described the president as “deranged and dangerous.”
“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego. He is deranged and dangerous.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also denounced Trump’s remark, writing on X that the president’s “statements against our city are dangerous and could potentially compromise our safety.”
“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” Bass wrote. “In the face of irresponsible threats, as Angelenos, we know how to stand together and protect our city.”
Sen. Alex Padilla also condemned the president’s speech with the following statement:
“At least 19 servicemembers have made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump’s unauthorized war with Iran —including Noah Tietjens of Nebraska.
“Now Trump is in Nebraska inviting an attack on U.S. soil, putting millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of our servicemembers at risk while trying to get Americans to cheer for an attack on our own country.
“What kind of Commander in Chief does that?”
About 230,000 Iranian Americans, roughly three in 10, live in and around Los Angeles, according to the Pew Research Center.
More than 1.18 million people in Los Angeles County voted for Trump in the 2024 election. Democrat Kamala Harris received more than 2.4 million votes in California’s most populous county.
