Members of the Republican Party have joined Democrats in questioning comments by US President Donald Trump about the California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.
Most of the backlash came on Tuesday, a day after Trump told a midterm rally in Nebraska that Americans should be ready to make sacrifices to deny Iran a nuclear weapon. Tehran has long rejected accusations that it is seeking atomic bombs.
“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” Trump said, apparently referring to the knock-on effects of the war, including rising fuel and fertiliser prices.He then said: “They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon.”
The White House said Trump was arguing that a nuclear-armed Iran could strike US cities. But Democrats and some Republicans accused him of suggesting that certain American cities were expendable.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and outspoken Trump critic, called the president “deranged”. In a video on X, he said: “This is not only madness. This is dangerous.” He urged Congress to rein in Trump’s behaviour.
Trump has played down the impact of the war, now in its eighth month, even though polls show it is widely unpopular in the US. He has repeatedly promised it will end soon, but no lasting ceasefire has been reached.
Newsom, a possible 2028 presidential contender, has clashed with Trump repeatedly.
