Did Trump say of Iran, ‘Let ’em take out’ LA and San Diego?

On Oct. 5, a rumor circulated online that, while speaking at a rally, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego and that it would be a “very small price to pay” amid the war on Iran.

The joint U.S.-Israel military operation has killed thousands of Iranians, beginning with the assassination of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, on Feb. 28, 2026. According to an October poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 28% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling Iran, as the cost of gas and groceries continued to soar.

“Trump on Iran: Let ’em take out Los Angeles and San Diego, it’s a small price to pay,” one X post showing a video of Trump speaking was captioned (archived). It had more than 15 million views.

The video was authentic, and the quote was correctly attributed to Trump. While speaking about economic sacrifices during the war at a Nebraska rally on Oct. 5, Trump said (at 1:47:01):

I want to see a tremendous victory. You want to see a tremendous victory ’cause it verifies all the things we did. And again, remember, with the war it’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over with very soon. It’s essentially almost over with and they might keep going a little long. You know, they always say they have a big threshold for pain — they need it, let me tell you, they need it. But it’s gonna end very soon and it’ll end one way or the other and your gas and your gasoline and all of the things.

California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Diego, denounced Trump’s comments. 

“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California,” Newsom posted on X, “Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego. He is deranged and dangerous.”

We sought comment from the White House, which directed us to a statement on X (archived) by spokesperson Steven Cheung. Cheung wrote that Trump was “clearly” stating that “U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped.“

It was unclear what Trump was referring to when he made the comment about “a small price to pay” and the White House’s response didn’t provide further context.

For further reading, we’ve verified numerous authentic Trump quotes, including that he said the Iran war was “small potatoes” and that when speaking about Iran negotiations, he said, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”

Sources