Trump Suggests Iran Could 'Take Out' Los Angeles and San Diego, Calling It a 'Small Price to Pay'
At a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on October 5, 2026, President Trump suggested that Iran could 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego, describing the potential loss as a 'very small price to pay' for keeping the world and the U.S. safe during the war with Iran. The crowd cheered. California Governor Gavin Newsom called Trump 'deranged and dangerous,' and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria condemned the remarks, with Gloria stating his city is 'not collateral damage.' The White House later claimed Trump was misinterpreted, saying he was warning that a nuclear Iran could threaten U.S. cities. Newsom activated the state's emergency operations center in response.
“They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. It's a very small price to pay.” Quote verified against source
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThe suggestion that an American city could be "taken out" as a "small price to pay" is not a sudden departure. It extends a line that runs through the March 2026 threat to send federalized troops into Los Angeles and San Francisco (2026-03-26), the May 2026 plan to halt immigration processing at sanctuary-city airports (2026-05-29), and the July 2026 warning of prosecution for election officials (2026-07-17). Each instance treats a domestic population or institution as an obstacle to be neutralized. The earlier threats against the whistleblower (2019-09-26, 2019-09-29) and Adam Schiff (2020-01-26) established the grammar: a target is named, a consequence is implied, and the crowd is invited to applaud. Now the consequence is foreign annihilation, and the crowd cheers again. The White House's claim of misinterpretation is itself a repetition--the same defense offered after the UN speech threatening to "annihilate" Iran (2026-09-22). The sequence is not escalation so much as a steady lowering of the threshold for what can be said aloud. That ordering is itself the finding.