US President Donald Trump has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans after suggesting at a rally in Nebraska that Iran could "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego. The White House says his words were misread.
Speaking on Monday night, while defending high fuel prices as a temporary cost of the US war on Iran, Trump said: "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 with very soon." Parts of the crowd cheered and laughed. The war is now in its eighth month, and no lasting ceasefire has been reached. Polling cited by Al Jazeera shows the conflict is widely unpopular in the United States.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and possible 2028 presidential contender, called the remarks "deranged and dangerous" and "dangerous – if not treasonous". He directed the state's Threat Assessment Center to monitor whether foreign actors might take the comments as an invitation to target California. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described the comments as threats, and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said his city was not collateral damage. Newsom also recalled Trump's 2025 deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles during immigration raids. A federal judge ruled that deployment illegal in December.
The criticism was not limited to Democrats. Jim Desmond, a Republican naval veteran running for Congress near San Diego, said: "No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage." Representative Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, called the comments "unhelpful". In San Diego, which has one of the largest concentrations of military personnel in the country, a veterans' peace group said it was "horrified". Defence spending accounts for about 22% of the region's economy, and the city hosts Naval Base San Diego, home port of the Pacific Fleet. Los Angeles hosts a Space Force command and an Air Force base. Residents in Los Angeles told The Guardian they saw the remarks as part of a pattern of hostility toward California.
The White House rejected the criticism. Communications Director Steven Cheung called it a "media freakout" that is "not rooted in reality", saying Trump meant US cities would have been threatened had a nuclear Iran not been stopped. He added that Iran now has "no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money". The White House's rapid-response account went further, calling Los Angeles Times reporters "buffoons". Trump himself had not responded to California's leaders at the time of reporting.
The row comes as the midterm elections approach. All 435 House seats and a third of the Senate are up for election in November, and California, the most populous state, holds 52 House seats. Newsom urged voters to turn out, while the outcome will shape Trump's last two years in office.