President Donald Trump suggested Iran attack Los Angeles and San Diego during a political rally in Nebraska on Monday night, describing the possible loss of two major US cities as a “small price to pay.” He made the remarks while discussing higher fuel prices caused by the Iran war, apparently deciding that complaints at the pump required a substantially more alarming comparison.
Trump told the packed crowd that Iran had enough firepower to destroy an American city. He offered no evidence that the country possessed long-range weapons of mass destruction capable of carrying out such an attack.
What did Trump say about the California cities?
After raising the prospect of Iran targeting the United States, Trump named two heavily populated California cities that tend to vote Democratic.
“Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego,” he said.
The president then called that outcome a “small price to pay.” He also claimed the war with Iran was nearing its end and was “essentially almost over with.” No further explanation was offered for why millions of Americans should feature as hypothetical collateral damage in a discussion about fuel prices.
The remarks marked a striking escalation in Trump’s attacks on liberal cities. Presidents traditionally present protecting American communities as part of the job. Publicly inviting a foreign adversary to destroy them is, at minimum, a notable adjustment to that description.
How did the mayors respond?
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned Trump’s comments in a post on X, arguing that the president’s responsibility was to defend Americans rather than encourage violence against them.
“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” Bass wrote.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria issued a similarly direct response, rejecting Trump’s suggestion that his city could be treated as expendable during a foreign conflict.
“San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay.’ Keep our city out of your reckless war talk,” Gloria wrote.
Neither response required much interpretation. The mayors objected to a sitting president casually proposing that Iran destroy their cities, a position most municipal leaders can reasonably be expected to take.
