Trump Says Iran Could 'Take Out' LA, San Diego
Did the president casually treat American cities as acceptable losses or did a clipped soundbite distort his point?
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Above: Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center at Fonner Park in Grand Island on Oct. 5. Image credit: Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald/Getty Images
The Facts
- Speaking at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said of Iran, "They can take out a city," adding, "Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay."
- The crowd at the rally cheered and applauded following the comments, which Trump framed around war-driven price increases, saying higher costs were "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe."
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom called Trump "deranged and dangerous" on X, while his press office said the president was advocating an attack on more than 10 million U.S. residents in two of the country's largest cities.
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The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
Dangling American cities as acceptable losses in a tough-guy riff about foreign threats is unhinged, and no commander in chief should ever be casual about the lives of millions. Californians are citizens, not bargaining chips in some war-talk performance. A president who talks this way about his own people has no business holding that kind of power.
Pro-Trump narrative
Anyone who actually listened to the full clip heard a rambling point about energy prices being worth paying so hostile regimes can never hit a U.S. city. Chopping a messy sentence into a soundbite to manufacture fury is dishonest, and it only works on those who never hear the full context.
