Politicians slam Trump’s suggestion that Iran ‘take’ San Diego, Los Angeles

Members of the Republican Party have joined Democrats in questioning remarks created by United States President Donald Trump concerning the California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Key points

• Jim Desmond, a Republican running in a competitive race for the House of Representatives near San Diego, was among those who distanced themselves from Trump's statement.
• Cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped, White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung wrote on social media.
• All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in November's midterms, along with a third of the Senate.
• Newsom, a feasible contender in the 2028 presidential race, has clashed repeatedly with Trump.
• US Representative Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans and is running for re-election in northern California, additionally called Trump's comments "unhelpful".

Much of the backlash came on Tuesday, a day after Trump informed a midterm rally in Nebraska that Americans should be willing to produce sacrifices to gain victory in the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Those sacrifices, he implied, could include the destruction of American cities, in case of an Iranian attack.

"It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe, " Trump remarked, seemingly in reference to the knock-on effects of the war, including rising fuel and fertiliser costs.

"They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a particularly small rate to pay, and it's going to be over with particularly shortly."

Trump has downplayed the impact of the war – now in its eighth month – despite polling that demonstrates the conflict is widely unpopular in the US. Though no lasting ceasefire has been reached so far, he has additionally repeatedly promised the war would end shortly.

Notably, the fallout from his Nebraska remarks was swift. Gavin Newsom, an outspoken critic of Trump and the Democratic governor of California, remarked the president was "deranged".

"This is not only madness. This is dangerous, " Newsom remarked in a video on the social media platform X, in which he called on Congress to rein in Trump's behaviour.

As part of an effort to backing a crackdown on undocumented immigration in the Los Angeles area, last year, the two faced off over Trump's decision to deploy federal troops to California.

In December, a federal judge ruled that the deployment had been illegal and ordered its end. Newsom, who resisted the deployment, cited that conflict in his remarks concerning Trump's Nebraska rally.

"The president of the United States – the same one who sent in the National Guard into Los Angeles, sent 700 active duty Marines to the second largest city in the United States of America – just invited Iran to take out Los Angeles and San Diego, " Newsom remarked.

He continued that Trump's remarks should convince those who "didn't think the November election mattered" to vote in the upcoming midterms.

Some from Trump's own party have additionally expressed shock at his remarks.

"I vehemently disagree with President Trump's comments. America must stand up to Iran and defend our interests, but the first responsibility of our Commander in Chief is to protect the American individuals and our homeland, " Desmond wrote on X.

"No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage."

But the White House has dismissed criticism of the remarks, calling it part of a "media freakout" that "is not rooted in reality".

"He was clearly stating U.S. Cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped, " White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung wrote on social media.

"America is safer since of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no funds."

California has the largest population and economy of any state in the US. Since of its population, it additionally has the most seats in the House of Representatives, at 52.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in November's midterms, along with a third of the Senate. Additionally on the ballot are key state and local races.

With Republicans' control of Congress on the line, the results of the midterms are projected to weigh heavily on the final two years of Trump's second term.

For now, politicians slam Trump's suggestion that Iran 'take' San Diego, Los Angeles remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.