Politics

Trump Says Iran Could 'Take Out' LA, San Diego

Did the president casually treat American cities as acceptable losses or did a clipped soundbite distort his point?

Published 7 days ago

Trump Says Iran Could 'Take Out' LA, San Diego

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Above: Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center at Fonner Park in Grand Island on Oct. 5. Image credit: Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald/Getty Images

The Spin

Anti-Trump narrative

Dangling American cities as acceptable losses in a tough-guy riff about foreign threats is unhinged, and no commander in chief should ever be casual about the lives of millions. Californians are citizens, not bargaining chips in some war-talk performance. A president who talks this way about his own people has no business holding that kind of power.

Gavin Newsom on X

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria on X

Ted Leitner on X

Pro-Trump narrative

Anyone who actually listened to the full clip heard a rambling point about energy prices being worth paying so hostile regimes can never hit a U.S. city. Chopping a messy sentence into a soundbite to manufacture fury is dishonest, and it only works on those who never hear the full context.

Jonah Goldberg on X

Steve Skojec on X