President Donald Trump riled up California leaders by suggesting Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego with a nuclear weapon.
Trump, 80, made the outrageous comment while speaking at a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, October 5, in support of Republican midterm election candidates including Gov. Jim Pillen and Sen. Pete Ricketts.
“[The Iran war] is a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” the president said. “They could take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.”
Trump went on to assure the crowd that the ongoing war, which started at the end of February in an attempt to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, is “gonna be over with very soon.”
As clips of the speech went viral on social media, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other politicians quickly condemned the commander in chief’s remarks.
“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,” Newsom, 58, wrote via X on Monday. “He is deranged and dangerous.”
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass also called Trump’s comments “dangerous,” tweeting, “The President of the United States suggested that a foreign government attack Los Angeles. His statements against our city … could potentially compromise our safety.”
Bass, 73, continued, “The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives. In the face of irresponsible threats, as Angelenos, we know how to stand together and protect our city.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria spoke out as well, saying the city is “not collateral damage.”
“We are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay,'” Gloria, 48, added in his X post. “Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”
Former first lady of California Maria Shriver also expressed her “outrage,” telling her X followers, “This is the president of the United States telling Iran to bomb American cities. I live in Los Angeles, but that’s beside the point. Tommorow [sic] it could be your city. My fellow Americans, this is not normal. This is not funny. This behavior should ring alarm bells for us all!”
Elsewhere in Monday’s speech, Trump promised voters that gas prices — which have surged more than 40 percent to a national average of $4.37 per gallon since the Iran war began, according to AAA — will go down soon without providing evidence.
“[The war] will end very quickly, one way or the other, very soon, maybe a little after the election, maybe a little before, but it’s going to end very soon,” he claimed. “When that happens, the oil will come tumbling down.”
