Trump repeats false claim Iran could destroy Los Angeles or San Diego to justify ongoing war
At a midterm campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, President Donald Trump repeated his false assertion that the war he launched against Iran in February 2026 was necessary to prevent Iran from destroying U.S. cities like Los Angeles or San Diego with a nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies assessed in March 2025 that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and has no missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Trump used the fabricated threat to defend the war and rising fuel prices, telling supporters, "We had no choice because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon."
Analysis Feed
AI commentaryThis event is a repetition and escalation of Trump's October 6, 2026 claim that Iran could destroy U.S. cities, used to justify the ongoing war. The false claim contradicts U.S. intelligence assessments and serves to deflect from war costs and fuel prices.
Three things should have happened before the President told a San Antonio rally that Iran could destroy Los Angeles or San Diego. First, the Director of National Intelligence should have been asked to update the March 2025 assessment that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and lacks missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. No such update was produced. Second, the National Security Council should have convened a principals committee to reconcile the claim with the administration's own prior statements--that Iran's program was "obliterated" in February, then merely "degraded" in March. That contradiction was left standing. Third, the White House Counsel should have reviewed the statement for consistency with the War Powers notification sent to Congress. That notification, if it exists, has never been made public. None of these steps were taken. The rally claim was not a briefing; it was a repetition of a fabrication first floated the day before, unsupported by any documented threat assessment. This is not governance. It is justification by assertion, and the missing paperwork is the evidence.