{"id":226718,"date":"2026-10-06T19:15:36","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T19:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-suggests-iran-could-take-out-los-angeles-or-san-diego-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T19:15:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T19:15:36","slug":"trump-suggests-iran-could-take-out-los-angeles-or-san-diego-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-suggests-iran-could-take-out-los-angeles-or-san-diego-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump suggests Iran could \u2018take out\u2019 Los Angeles or San Diego – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gavin Newsom calls comments \u2018deranged and dangerous\u2019 after president tells Nebraska rally: \u2018They can take out a city\u2019
Can the Iran war cost Trump in the US midterm elections? Your questions answered<\/a>
Leaders in California have denounced Donald Trump<\/a> as \u201creckless\u201d and \u201cderanged\u201d after the US president suggested Iran could \u201ctake out\u201d Los Angeles and San Diego \u2013 two liberal cities in the blue state that has been a frequent target of his administration.
At a rally in ruby red Nebraska on Monday night, Trump told supporters that he hoped to see a \u201ctremendous victory\u201d in the fast-approaching November midterm elections. He then suggested high prices due to the war with Iran<\/a> were a \u201csmall price to pay for keeping the world safe \u2013 keeping our country safe\u201d.
\u201cThey can take out a city,\u201d Trump said in Grand Island. \u201cLet them take out Los Angeles<\/a>. Let them take out San Diego.\u201d The crowd applauded.
\u201cIt\u2019ll be over very soon,\u201d Trump said of the war.
The governor and the cities\u2019 mayors quickly condemned the comments. \u201cAfter sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should \u2018take out\u2019 Los Angeles and San Diego,\u201d the California governor, Gavin Newsom<\/a>, said on X. \u201cHe is deranged and dangerous.\u201d
Newsom, a Democrat who has repeatedly clashed with Trump over his two terms, said from his press office<\/a> account: \u201cLet\u2019s be clear: The President is advocating for an attack on 10+ million U.S. residents in two of America\u2019s largest cities. This is not normal. None of this is. And we will continue to remind folks of that every day.\u201d
Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, assailed the president for making what she called \u201cirresponsible threats\u201d that \u201ccould potentially compromise\u201d the safety of America\u2019s second-largest city.
\u201cThe role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,\u201d she said in a statement.
Todd Gloria, the mayor of San Diego<\/a>, said his city was \u201cnot collateral damage\u201d in the president\u2019s war. \u201cWe are not expendable. And we are never a \u201csmall price to pay,\u201d he wrote on X \u201cKeep our city out of your reckless war talk.\u201d
San Diego, the nation\u2019s eighth-largest city, is home to critical US military infrastructure.
Online, the comments \u2013 part of a rambling, nearly hour-and-a-half speech \u2013 set off a debate about what the president actually meant. Was it a crude joke about two blue cities or had he, accidentally perhaps, disclosed confidential intelligence about potential Iranian targets?
Some conservative activists argued that Trump, in his elliptical way of speaking, was referring to high gas prices when he argued that it was a \u201csmall price to pay\u201d, and not the capacity of Iran to \u201ctake out\u201d a US city.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US defence officials have previously stated that Iran currently lacks the capability to launch a direct missile attack on the US mainland.
Trump has argued in previous speeches that allowing Iran to develop a nuclear weapon would threaten US cities. In his last state of the union speech he claimed that Iran was working to build missiles that would \u201csoon\u201d reach US soil.
In Nebraska, where an unexpectedly close Senate race has rattled Republicans, Trump insisted that he was \u201cdoing great\u201d and urged supporters to pretend like his name was on the ballot when the vote in November. But in California, where Steve Hilton<\/a>, the Republican gubernatorial candidate endorsed by Trump, is seeking an upset, the president\u2019s comments were unwelcome.
\u201cThirteen million Californians call LA and San Diego counties home,\u201d said Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee for governor who has sought to take up the anti-Trump mantle carried by the outgoing Newsom. \u201cTheir lives are not a \u2018small price to pay\u2019 or a punchline for Donald Trump.\u201d
<\/span> This article was amended on 6 October 2026. Trump suggested that Iran could \u201ctake out\u201d the two cities, but did not suggest that it do so, as the original headline indicated.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gavin Newsom calls comments \u2018deranged and dangerous\u2019 after president tells Nebraska rally: \u2018They can take out a city\u2019Can the Iran war cost Trump in the US midterm elections? Your questions answeredLeaders in California have denounced Donald Trump as \u201creckless\u201d and \u201cderanged\u201d after the US president suggested Iran could \u201ctake out\u201d Los Angeles and San Diego […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}