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President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he never invited Iran to bomb Los Angeles and San Diego, three days after he told a rally in Nebraska to “let them destroy” the two cities while defending his war, which has pushed gasoline beyond $4.40 a gallon.
“The false and contrived information is trying to say that I am inviting the enemy to bomb San Diego and Los Angeles when in reality what I was saying is that a temporary increase in the price of gasoline is a small price to pay for Iran not having a nuclear weapon and, if you want to see a high price, can you imagine what it would be like if they bombed San Diego and/or Los Angeles?” Trump wrote at Truth Social.
“All I was doing was comparing paying a little more, for a short period of time, for gasoline, to the bombing of our major cities.”
The president then claimed that “everyone knew” what he meant and accused the media of continuing “to come out and say I’m asking the enemy to bomb two cities that I love” while calling journalists who covered the inflammatory comments “degenerates.”
Trump’s message was a belated attempt to walk back what was widely interpreted at the time as a verbal jab at anti-war Democrats and Republicans whom he falsely accused of supporting Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Speaking in Grand Island, Nebraska, in support of Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, Trump said rising gas prices, which have dented his party’s approval ratings, were worth supporting because Iran “could wipe out a city.”
“Let them eliminate Los Angeles; let them eliminate San Diego. » he said, as the partisan crowd booed at the mention of the two California cities.
He repeated similar comments at a rally Wednesday in support of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton.
“You want to see trauma? You want to see problems? And I said this the other day. Let them launch a missile at San Diego or Los Angeles. You want to see a horror show? Let them hit San Diego. Let them hit Los Angeles if you want to see bad things happen,” Trump said.
Only then did he add the caveat that Thursday’s message said was obvious from the beginning: “We are not going to let this happen. We are protecting our cities; we are protecting our country.”
In the days following his unbalanced remarks, the president’s team attempted to close the case without him, although he dodged reporters’ questions about it.
White House communications director Steven Cheung called the reaction a “media panic” that was “not grounded in reality,” writing on
This staff-led cleanup effort failed to calm California leaders.
“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump now says our foreign enemies should ‘eliminate’ Los Angeles and San Diego,” Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote. “He is disturbed and dangerous.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass put it more clearly, writing on X that Trump had “suggested that a foreign government attack Los Angeles.”
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