California leaders blasted President Trump after he said during a Monday rally about Iran, "Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego."
The big picture: The backlash — and the White House's insistence that Trump was misunderstood — underscored the ambiguity of his meandering speech: An argument that the war was worth enduring to protect Americans came out sounding like an invitation to attack two U.S. cities.
- An administration account posted on X that Trump meant that the U.S. was fighting Iran to "STOP Iran from having the ability to take out LA and San Diego."
Driving the news: Faced with an unpopular war and stubbornly high gas prices, Trump seemingly argued that the current economic pain is "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe" during his Nebraska rally.
- "It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe," he said. "They can take out a city. Let them take, let it — let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. That's — this is a very small price to pay, and it's gonna be over very soon."
Friction point: The comment received swift backlash from Golden State leaders:
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote, "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. He is deranged and dangerous."
- San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria also admonished the president, writing, "San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable."
- And LA Mayor Karen Bass responded, "His statements against our city are dangerous and could potentially compromise our safety. The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives."
Between the lines: Analysts online perceived his comments in various ways, with some noting his circuitous language could have masked his true intent.
- But others reeled at the plain text of the comments from the president, who in the past has suggested using "dangerous" U.S. cities as military "training grounds."
- The White House pointed Axios to a post from Communications Director Steven Cheung, who argued the president "was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped.
Context: Military bases across San Diego employ more than 136,000 active duty members and civilians, according to a 2025 report from the San Diego Military Advisory Council.
- Rep. Scott Peters (D), who represents the city, noted those deep military roots in his statement condemning the president's words, writing, "San Diego is a proud military town, home to 115,000 courageous active duty servicemembers and their families. Military service is at the root of our community and culture."
Go deeper: After nixing Iran proposal, Trump tells Axios he expects talks this week