October 5, 2026 · Political Spectacle & Unusual Conduct
· Public remarks
Confirmed
Trump Says 'Let Them Take Out' Los Angeles and San Diego Over Iran War Costs
At an Oct. 5 rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, Trump said, "Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego," while arguing that the economic cost of the Iran war, including high gas prices, was "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe." The remark, first widely reported by Axios, drew immediate condemnation from California officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom called it "deranged and dangerous." San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said his city is "not collateral damage," and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the comments endangered public safety.
The episode is notable less as policy than as rhetoric: a sitting president appearing, in the plain reading taken by local officials, to treat the safety of two major American cities as an acceptable cost of a war he has escalated, at a moment when that war is already unpopular and gas prices remain elevated.
The White House disputed the plain reading. Communications Director Steven Cheung said Trump meant the U.S. must stop Iran from being able to strike Los Angeles or San Diego, not that he would welcome such an attack. Trump did not personally clarify the remark afterward.
The episode is notable less as policy than as rhetoric: a sitting president appearing, in the plain reading taken by local officials, to treat the safety of two major American cities as an acceptable cost of a war he has escalated, at a moment when that war is already unpopular and gas prices remain elevated.
The White House disputed the plain reading. Communications Director Steven Cheung said Trump meant the U.S. must stop Iran from being able to strike Los Angeles or San Diego, not that he would welcome such an attack. Trump did not personally clarify the remark afterward.