Trump tells Nebraska rally 'let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego'

US President Donald Trump told a campaign rally in Nebraska "let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego", describing the outcome as "a very small price to pay" while speaking about the war with Iran.

The remarks, made in Grand Island on Monday, 5 October 2026, were condemned by California's governor and the mayors of both cities. They accused the President of inviting an attack on American civilians.

The White House said the following day that Trump had been misinterpreted, arguing he meant the threat a nuclear-armed Iran would have posed. Trump raised that threat earlier in the speech, but not in the passage itself.

What Trump said

In footage of the rally, embedded in this article, Trump made the remarks about 12 minutes into his speech, after urging supporters to deliver "a tremendous victory" in the midterm elections, "because it verifies all the things we did".

"And again, remember, with the word, 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," he said.

Several outlets, including CBS News and CNA, reported the phrase as "with the war". In the footage, Trump says "with the word". He did not say what he was describing as "a little bit high".

He continued: "They can take out a city. Let them take, let it, let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego."

"That's, this is a very small price to pay, and it's gonna be over very soon. It's essentially almost over with," Trump said. According to CBS News, attendees appeared to cheer.

"And they might keep going a little long, you know? They always say they have a big threshold for pain. They need it, let me tell you. They need it," he added.

"But it's gonna end very soon, and it'll end one way or the other, and your gas and your gasoline and all of the things."

How the remarks have been read

CBS News reported that it was not immediately clear what Trump had meant.

Trump had addressed Iran's nuclear ambitions earlier in the speech, during a passage on fuel prices. About seven minutes before the remarks, he said Iran "will not have a nuclear weapon".

Recounting a visit to Iowa before the war began, he added: "We have to stop them from having a nuclear weapon." He told the crowd that fuel prices would come "tumbling" once the war ended.

When he returned to the subject, he opened with "And again, remember", before saying "it's a little bit high" and calling it "a small price to pay". He closed the passage with a reference to "your gas and your gasoline".

The passage naming Los Angeles and San Diego contains neither "nuclear" nor "weapon", and no conditional. Trump did not say Iran could have struck the cities had it not been stopped. He said "let them".

The line "That's, this is a very small price to pay" comes immediately after "let them take out San Diego".

The White House reads the passage as a reference back to the nuclear threat raised minutes earlier. Critics, including the mayors of both cities, have taken "let them" at its word.

Two Democrat-run cities in a state Trump lost

Both cities named by Trump are governed by Democrats. Los Angeles is led by Mayor Karen Bass and San Diego by Mayor Todd Gloria. California's governor, Gavin Newsom, is also a Democrat.

Trump lost both areas in the 2024 presidential election. Official county returns show Kamala Harris won around 65 per cent of the vote in Los Angeles County, against about 32 per cent for Trump.

In San Diego County, Harris won around 57 per cent of the vote to Trump's 40 per cent. California has voted for the Democratic candidate in nine consecutive presidential elections.

The remarks follow a prolonged dispute between Trump and California's leadership. It included the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in June 2025, which Newsom cited in his response.

Later in the same speech, Trump singled out California over fuel prices. He said the state was closing refineries and paying "two and a half dollars more than anybody else". "They're crazy, okay? They're crazy," he said.

California leaders condemn remarks

California's leaders accused the 80-year-old Republican president of encouraging Iran to strike two of the country's largest urban centres.

Newsom wrote on X: "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. He is deranged and dangerous."

In a separate post, Newsom said the President was "advocating for an attack on 10+ million U.S. residents in two of America's largest cities", adding: "This is not normal. None of this is."

Newsom also said he had directed the State Threat Assessment Center to "actively monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the president's remarks as an invitation to target California".

In a statement to CBS News, Newsom called for Trump's removal from office under the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, writing: "Donald Trump is mentally ill. TIME FOR THE 25TH!"

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the US House of Representatives, wrote on X: "The nuclear annihilation of an American city is no laughing matter."

Mayors of Los Angeles and San Diego respond

Bass wrote on social media: "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," Bass added.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Bass said she had been shocked by the remarks. "Maybe at this point I shouldn't be, but I was just shocked," she said, according to CBS News.

"That's a president of the United States, inviting a country that we are at war with to attack an American city," Bass told reporters.

Gloria wrote on X: "San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a 'small price to pay.' Keep our city out of your reckless war talk."

White House disputes interpretation

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote on X on Tuesday that "the media freakout" over the remarks was "not rooted in reality".

"He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped," Cheung wrote. "America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money."

The White House's Rapid Response account on X objected to a Los Angeles Times headline, which said Trump had suggested "letting Iran 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego".

"No, he didn't, you buffoons," the account posted.

It said Trump "was saying the US 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".

Neither post addressed why Trump used the phrase "let them", or why he described such an outcome as "a very small price to pay".

Iran's denials and the 'obliterated' programme

The White House's explanation rests on the premise that Iran was on course to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran has consistently denied seeking them.

On Thursday, 26 February 2026, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was not "at all" seeking a nuclear weapon, as last-ditch talks with the US were due to begin in Switzerland. The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran two days later.

In early March 2026, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), wrote on X that there had been "no evidence of Iran building a nuclear bomb".

Grossi added that Iran's large stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, and its refusal to grant inspectors full access, were cause for serious concern. He said the agency could not confirm the programme was exclusively peaceful.

The current war is not the first US action against Iran's nuclear facilities. On Sunday, 22 June 2025, US forces struck the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites during Israel's 12-day war with Iran.

In a televised address that night, Trump declared that Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities had been "completely and totally obliterated".

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, 24 February 2026, Trump said Iran was trying to rebuild the nuclear programme he had said was destroyed eight months earlier.

In his post defending Trump's rally remarks, Cheung wrote that Iran now has "no nuclear".

What is at stake in both cities

According to CBS News, Los Angeles is the country's second-most populous city. It hosts the headquarters of the US Space Force's Space Systems Command.

The city is also home to aerospace contractors including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman, and to federally funded research centres such as the RAND Corporation.

San Diego, the eighth-largest US city, has several major military installations in and around it, CBS News reported.

These include Naval Base San Diego, the homeport of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, the main West Coast training ground for Navy SEALs.

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is also in the area. About 70,000 civilians and active-duty service members live and work there.

Midterm campaign and fuel prices

Trump was in Nebraska to campaign for Republican Senator Pete Ricketts. Ricketts faces Dan Osborn, an independent candidate backed by national Democrats, in the midterm elections on Tuesday, 3 November 2026.

The President has described the rally as part of a 32-day blitz of campaign events. The tour has so far taken him to Republican strongholds such as Oklahoma and Alabama.

Voters across the country have expressed frustration with persistently high fuel and grocery costs. The issue is particularly acute for rural voters, who have backed Trump and his party in recent elections.

During the rally, Trump signed an executive order allowing anyone to buy red dye diesel tax-free. He called it an "unprecedented step to bring down costs".

Diesel prices have risen sharply because of the war with Iran. Dyed diesel is typically cheaper because it is exempt from federal and state excise taxes.

Trump said the order would save the typical trucker more than US$100 each time they filled their tank. He said it would also lower the cost of other goods, including groceries.

The campaign tour comes amid Republican concerns that voter anger over the Iran war and high prices could cost the party control of Congress.