President Donald Trump again invoked the possibility of Iranian missiles hitting Los Angeles or San Diego, a day after the White House said his earlier remarks had been misunderstood.
“I said it the other day, let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles on the way,” Trump said at a rally in San Antonio, Texas, on Wednesday.
“You want to see a horror show? Let them hit San Diego. Let them hit Los Angeles. You want to see some bad things happen?”
The remarks echoed comments Trump made at a Nebraska rally earlier this week while defending the war with Iran.
On Monday, the president said: “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.”
Trump’s wording drew condemnation from Californian leaders, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who said their cities should not be treated as “expendable.”
Bass condemned Trump’s comments, writing on X: “The President of the United States suggested that a foreign government attack Los Angeles. His statements against our city are dangerous and could potentially compromise our safety.
“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives. In the face of irresponsible threats, as Angelenos, we know how to stand together and protect our city.”
Gloria responded to the initial remarks by writing: “San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay.'”
Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom also criticized Trump on X. He wrote that the president’s remarks “were dangerous—if not treasonous—putting a target on two of our biggest cities and one of America’s largest naval hubs.”
Newsom then requested the State Threat Assessment Center (STAC) to “actively monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the President’s remarks as an invitation to target California.”
The STAC serves as California’s primary state-level fusion center, providing threat analysis, intelligence sharing, and situational awareness to state and public-safety agencies. Following Newsom’s October 6 request, there has been no publicly reported change to California’s formal threat level.
President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas, on October 7.
White House Defends Trump as California Leaders Condemn Remarks
The White House pushed back on the initial criticism Tuesday.
Communications Director Steven Cheung said Trump was “clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” dismissing coverage of the remarks as a “media freakout.”
At Wednesday’s rally, Trump went on to say that the U.S. would not allow such an attack to happen.
“We’re not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. We protect our country. We’re not letting that happen,” he said during his speech.
Newsom took to X again on Wednesday to criticize the remarks.
“Trump thinks he will scare people into voting for MAGA candidates by threatening the bombing of over 16 million Americans. He has lost his mind,” he wrote.
In a separate earlier post, an account for Newsom’s press office wrote: “Let’s be clear: The President is advocating for an attack on 10+ million U.S. residents in two of America’s largest cities. This is not normal. None of this is. And we will continue to remind folks of that every day.”
The comments came amid continuing debate over the threat Iran poses to the U.S. mainland.
Experts, such as Sam Lair, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, previously told Newsweek that Iran does not have missiles capable of striking Los Angeles or San Diego. Lair said that Iran’s longest-range missiles fall far short of the distance required to reach the continental United States.
Iranian officials have only publicly acknowledged developing missiles with a maximum range of 1,200 miles. This is well short of the at-least 5,600 miles needed to reach the continental United States. It is over 7,500 miles from Iran to Los Angeles and San Diego.
Trump’s speech on Wednesday was interrupted several times by protesters, ABC News reported.
He was in San Antonio to campaign for Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and James Debens
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