Donald Trump was accused of “dangerous, if not treasonous” behaviour after his comments suggesting he could “let [Iran] take out” Los Angeles or San Diego.
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has since directed the state’s emergency preparedness center to “actively monitor” possible threats to the state.
Newsom: 'dangerous – if not treasonous'
“Donald Trump’s remarks were dangerous – if not treasonous – putting a target on two of our biggest cities and one of America’s largest naval hubs,” Newsom said in a post on X, adding that the state’s threat-assessment center would be on heightened alert “in the event that foreign actors interpret the president’s remarks as an invitation to target California”.
The president has faced a chorus of condemnation from Democratic leaders in California after his comments at a rally in Nebraska on Monday night, which the White House has suggested were being taken out of context.
Rally comments and reactions
At the president’s rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, Trump claimed that high prices due to the war with Iran are a “small price to pay for keeping the world safe – keeping our country safe”.
He went on: “They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”
Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee for governor vying to succeed Newsom, said he wasn’t surprised by the president’s comments.
“Donald Trump is a known commodity – you know how he acts, you know how he behaves,” Becerra told reporters at a campaign event in Los Angeles on Tuesday. But he took a jab at Republicans who “profess that they should be the leaders of our state” but aren’t willing to “stand up to Donald Trump”.
Meanwhile, San Diego mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement that “the most fundamental responsibility of a president is to protect the American people - all of them.”
He added: “No American city, regardless of its politics or geography, should ever be described as expendable or an acceptable price to pay.”
White House and Republican response
But the White House insisted that Trump was being willfully misinterpreted.
Steven Cheung, its director of communications, posted on X: “The media freakout over President Trump’s comments is not rooted in reality. He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped. America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.”
But one Republican House candidate, Jim Desmond, who is running in a competitive San Diego-based seat, pushed back.
“America must stand up to Iran and defend our interests, but the first responsibility of our commander in chief is to protect the American people and our homeland,” Desmond, a former mayor of San Marcos, said in a statement.
Other developments
In other developments: The Cook Political Report has revised its predictions for the November midterm elections, saying “A Senate Majority is Squarely in Democrats’ Sights”. Cook amended its prediction for the Kansas Senate race from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up” – a shocker for a state where no Democrat has won a Senate election since 1932.
Donald Trump announced a massive new shipyard, which will be funded by a combination of federal and private dollars, at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point. Anduril Industries, which is owned by Trump’s friend and donor Palmer Luckey, plans to invest $3.7bn in the shipyard and the US Navy will contribute an additional $2.9bn.
The USS Lincoln will dock in San Diego tomorrow, completing a nearly year-long deployment that sparked controversy over living conditions aboard the aircraft carrier as it supported military operations in Iran. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to greet the crew when they arrive.
Trump ordered the FBI to investigate protesters in Los Angeles who were demonstrating against the president’s immigration crackdown, according to a whistleblower complaint that was submitted to the Senate judiciary committee. Jill Fields, a former supervisory intelligence analyst in the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, made the complaint following the federal response to anti-ICE demonstrations around the city’s federal buildings, and in residential area, early last year.
