{"id":622706,"date":"2026-10-06T23:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/622706\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:00:11","slug":"let-em-take-out-los-angeles-trumps-iran-remark-sparks-state-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/622706\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Let ’em take out Los Angeles’: Trump’s Iran remark sparks state fury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Californian politicians have slammed Donald Trump as “deranged and dangerous” after the US President appeared to suggest Iran could “take out” a major city like Los Angeles or San Diego with a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n

The comments prompted a swift rebuke from the state’s Democratic leaders and some Republicans, though the White House said Trump was referring to the threat of a nuclear Iran and described the “media freakout” as “not rooted in reality”.<\/p>\n

Trump, speaking at a rally in the US state of Nebraska to shore up Republican support as the midterms loom<\/a>, discussed economic sacrifices and an impending “tremendous victory” in the November elections.<\/p>\n

Gavin Newsom and California mayors rebuke the President\u2019s remarks, while the White House insists he was warning about the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. (Source: Reuters)<\/p>\n

“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, for keeping our country safe,” he said, appearing to refer to high fuel prices.<\/p>\n

“They could 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 \u2060over with very soon,” he said to cheers from the crowd in rural Grand Island.<\/p>\n

“It’s essentially almost over with, but it’s going to end very soon, and it’s going to end one way or the other.”<\/p>\n

‘This is not normal’ – Newsom<\/p>\n

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, denounced the Republican president as “deranged and dangerous”.<\/p>\n

“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los \u200cAngeles and \u2060San Diego,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

“Let\u2019s be clear: The President is advocating for an attack on 10+ million U.S. residents in two of America\u2019s largest cities. This is not normal. None of this is. And we will continue to remind folks of that every day.”<\/p>\n

\"California<\/p>\n

California Governor Gavin Newsom. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In a post on X, White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung described the “media freakout” over Trump’s comments as “not rooted in reality”.<\/p>\n

“He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.”<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, also a Democrat, said in a statement Trump’s comment “could potentially compromise our safety”.<\/p>\n

Todd Gloria, the mayor of San Diego, said his city was \u201cnot collateral damage\u201d in the president\u2019s war. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay’. Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”<\/p>\n

Republican Jim Desmond, who is standing in a San Diego based seat in the House of Representatives, also pushed back.<\/p>\n

“America must stand up to Iran and defend our interests, but the first responsibility of our Commander in Chief is to protect the American people and our homeland.”<\/p>\n

Los Angeles and San Diego rank as the largest and second-largest cities in California by \u2060population.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the washup from the last night\u2019s election debate, and an NBA star shows up at a French rugby training. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Californian politicians have slammed Donald Trump as “deranged and dangerous” after the US President appeared to suggest Iran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1403,65,42,5107,43,64,40,38,41,39,66],"class_list":["post-622706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-defence","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}