U.S. President Donald Trump dances after speaking during a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island, Nebraska, on October 5, 2026. (AFP Photo)
U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to suggest on Oct. 5 that Iran should be allowed to “take out” California’s two largest cities while discussing war-related price increases.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, he argued that Americans should accept higher prices as a cost of maintaining national and global security.
“And again, remember, with the war, it’s just artificial,” he said.
“It’s a little bit high. It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe.”
Trump then referred to the possibility of an Iranian attack on a U.S. city.
“They can take out a city,” he said. “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.”
He said the war was “essentially almost over with” while acknowledging that it could continue for a longer period.
The president also discussed Iran’s ability to withstand economic pressure, saying Iranian leaders have described themselves as having a “big threshold for pain.”
“They need it, let me tell you,” he said.
Trump predicted that the conflict would eventually end “one way or the other” before returning to the economic consequences Americans are facing.
“But it’s going to end very soon, and it’ll end one way or the other,” he said, adding prices are going to come down “very sharply.”
The governor and the cities’ mayors quickly condemned the comments.
“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,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said on X.
Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, assailed the president for making what she called “irresponsible threats” that “could potentially compromise” the safety of America’s second-largest city.
Todd Gloria, the mayor of San Diego, said his city was “not collateral damage” in the president’s war. “We are not expendable. And we are never a “small price to pay,” he wrote on X “Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”
