Trump Condemned for Invoking Nuclear Attacks on US Cities to Defend Iran War

By Chris Walker

This article was originally published by Truthout

Trump’s attempt to defend the war comes as polling shows that the conflict is deeply unpopular among US voters.

President Donald Trump ambiguously suggested during a political rally on Monday that Iran could “take out” San Diego or Los Angeles. 

The president’s remarks seemed to be an attempt to justify his ongoing war on Iran, which is deeply unpopular among American voters.

Addressing a crowd of supporters in Nebraska, Trump claimed that the economic impacts of the war were worth it to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

“Remember, with the war, it’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high,” Trump said regarding price increases in retail goods and gas. “It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe.”

“They could take out a city,” Trump added, stopping mid-sentence before continuing. “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let him take out San Diego.”

“This is a very small price to pay and [the war is] going to be over with very soon,” Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the war is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon — despite the fact that the country’s leaders had already agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapons program before the U.S. launched the war in late February.

Several California lawmakers condemned the remarks by Trump, including Sen. Alex Padilla (D), who called for Trump’s removal from office. 

“25th Amendment NOW,” Padilla wrote on X, referring to the amendment of the U.S. Constitution that allows the cabinet to determine if a president is no longer fit to serve.

Several critics interpreted Trump’s comments as an endorsement of hypothetical attacks on those two cities. Indeed, Trump did not correct himself when members of his audience cheered on the idea.

Meanwhile, the White House’s social media Rapid Response team issued a belligerent response to observers who came to that conclusion.

“No, he didn’t, you buffoons,” the response team wrote on X. “He was saying the U.S. is fighting to STOP Iran from having the ability to take out LA and San Diego with a nuclear weapon — which they would if they had the chance.”

Trump’s comments on Monday echo a statement he made in late September.

“If you want to see turmoil and travesty, let them take out a city with a nuclear weapon…let them hit us with a nuclear weapon,” Trump said at a press conference.

Iran is nowhere near being able to build a nuclear weapon, and wasn’t nearing those capabilities before the war began, when Washington and Tehran were engaging in indirect negotiations to avoid the conflict. Iran has reaffirmed at multiple points during the war that it has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons.

It’s unclear if Trump is purposefully misleading the public or woefully ignorant of the situation at hand. His past remarks on issues relating to nuclear proliferation, however, suggest the latter option is a real possibility.

In 2015, during a Republican debate in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential race, Trump was clearly confused over a question about the nuclear triad — the U.S.’s capabilities to launch a nuclear attack or response by land, air, or sea. Reports from 2019 also indicate that Trump frequently asked White House aides whether launching a nuclear bomb directly into a hurricane could work to break it up before it made landfall. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned that such a move would not only fail, but result in dangerous amounts of nuclear fallout.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continues to be deeply unpopular among American voters. Recent polling demonstrates that more than 6 in 10 voters want the war to end as soon as possible.

Despite this sentiment, Trump said last week that the war should be a boost for Republicans in the midterms, blaming the media for supposedly putting a negative spin on the issue — again, mischaracterizing Iran’s nuclear capabilities to make his case.

“When you say, ‘Is it OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon?’ I would say 100 percent of the people say no, including worldwide. So, when you say it that way, it would help” Republicans running on the issue, Trump said on Friday. “If you don’t say that, it could hurt.”

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