Iran attack on LA or San Diego would be 'a small price to pay', Trump says

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Oct 6, 2026

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President Donald Trump is telling supporters it would be a “very small price to pay” if Iran were to use a nuclear weapon to obliterate cities in heavily Democratic California, sparking outrage from critics.

“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let ‘em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego,” Trump said at a rambling Monday night speech in deep-red Nebraska.

“This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon,” he added.

The remarks, which won cheers and laughter from the overflow crowd of Trump loyalists, drew instant backlash from California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential hopeful.

“Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego,” Newsom tweeted. “He is deranged and dangerous.”

The mayors of Los Angeles and San Diego also denounced the president’s remarks.

“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tweeted.

The White House insists Democrats are deliberately misinterpreting Trump’s words to score cheap political points.

Officials say he was simply defending the controversial war against Iran as a necessary step to prevent Iran from gaining the capability to build a nuclear weapon that could strike American cities, not suggesting such an attack would be acceptable or of little concern.

“He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” White House communications director Steven Cheung tweeted. “America is safer because of the President.”

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