California leaders from both parties strongly condemned President Trump after a Nebraska rally where he framed potential strikes on Los Angeles or San Diego as a “small price to pay” for the war with Iran. While local officials argued no American city is expendable, the White House defended the remarks, claiming Trump was merely illustrating the nuclear threat the U.S. had successfully neutralized.
California officials across party lines sharply denounced comments by President Donald Trump after he suggested during a campaign rally that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego, framing potential fallout from the ongoing conflict as a minor sacrifice.
Addressing a crowd in Grand Island, Nebraska, ahead of the midterm elections, Trump described the repercussions of the war with Iran as a “small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe.” He then invoked two of California’s largest metropolitan centers:
“Let, let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego,” Trump said, adding, “This is a very small price to pay and it’s gonna be over with very soon.”
While Trump has frequently pointed to rising gas prices as a minor cost of the military campaign, his remarks in Nebraska presented a much starker scenario by referencing direct strikes on domestic soil. The comments triggered immediate backlash from state leaders in California, a frequent target of Trump’s criticism over policy issues ranging from immigration and election administration to wildfire management.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom described the president’s rhetoric as “deranged and dangerous.”
Mayors of both named cities also responded forcefully. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass warned that such statements “could potentially compromise our safety,” emphasizing that a commander in chief’s core duty is “to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives.”
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria echoed that sentiment, declaring that the city “is not collateral damage” and “never a ‘small price to pay.’ Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”
Pushback also emerged from within Trump’s own party. Republican Jim Desmond, a candidate for California’s 48th Congressional District, said he “vehemently” disagreed with the president’s framing. While affirming the need to stand up to Iran, Desmond stressed that the president’s primary responsibility remains protecting the homeland, adding, “No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.”
The White House moved quickly to clarify the remarks. Communications Director Steven Cheung stated on X that Trump was “clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” adding that the administration’s actions had dismantled Iran’s naval, air, and nuclear capabilities, leaving America safer.
Trump maintained during the speech that the conflict is “going to end very soon.” Although he initially projected the war would wrap up within weeks, operations have now spanned seven months. Trump sought to reconcile that discrepancy last week, contending his original four- to six-week estimate applied solely to eliminating Iran’s nuclear program rather than resolving the broader war.
