(FOX40.COM) — Condemnation from California politicians rolled in quickly Monday night after President Donald Trump suggested Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego during a speech to supporters.
“With the war, it’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high. It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” Trump said at a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska. “They can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over very soon.”
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to the president’s comments in a social media post, calling Trump “deranged and dangerous.”
“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,” Newsom said.
His office accused the president of advocating for an attack on more than 10 million residents of two of America’s largest cities.
The California Republican Party declined to comment on the president’s statements. The White House did not respond to FOX40’s request for comment.
US President Donald Trump points to a member of the crowd after speaking during a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island, Nebraska, on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, also questioned Trump’s comments, asking “what kind of Commander in Chief does that?”
“At least 19 servicemembers have made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump’s unauthorized war with Iran — including Noah Tietjens of Nebraska,” he said on social media. “Now Trump is in Nebraska inviting an attack on U.S. soil, putting millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of our servicemembers at risk while trying to get Americans to cheer for an attack on our own country.”
Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, said the president’s statements could compromise the city’s safety.
“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” she said.
Her San Diego counterpart, Mayor Todd Gloria, told Trump to “keep our city our of your reckless war talk.”
“San Diego is not collateral damage,” Gloria said. “We are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay.'”
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican running to succeed Rep. Darrell Issa in California’s 48th Congressional District, said he “vehemently” disagrees with Trump’s comment’s and said the Commander in Chief’s first responsibility is to protect the American people and the country.
“As a Navy veteran, I served to protect Americans, not write off American cities as an acceptable price of war,” Desmond said in a social media post. “Our job is to keep Americans safe, stand up to our enemies, and make sure a threat like that never becomes reality. No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, a former Republican running for reelection as an independent in California’s 6th Congressional District, told FOX40 there is “no evidence” Iran could strike a California city, adding that “such rhetoric is unhelpful.”
“But the Iranian regime does pose an ongoing risk to American national security interests,” Kiley said in a statement. “That’s why it is well past time for Congress to play a leading role in bringing this conflict to an end while assuring the regime’s nuclear program does not resume.”
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