California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has hit back hard after Donald Trump suggested Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego. The former called the latter “deranged and dangerous” and ordered state security officials to watch for fallout.
Gavin Newsom reacts to Donald Trump’s recent comment
Trump made the comment on Monday at an election rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, where he spoke about the Iran war and rising prices. “Remember, with the war, it’s just artificial,” Trump said. “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 them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego.”
Newsom answered on X (formerly Twitter), linking the remark to the federal troop deployment in his state. “After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego,” he wrote. “He is deranged and dangerous.”
The governor went further in a statement to The Hill, calling the president “mentally ill,” even urging his removal under the 25th Amendment, which sets out how to remove a president unable to carry out the job’s duties. On another account, he suggested the remarks could be seen as “treasonous.”
After all, the morning after the rally, Newsom said he had directed California’s State Threat Assessment Center to “monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the remarks as an invitation” to target the state. The White House rejected the criticism. Communications director Steven Cheung said on X that Trump’s words had been misconstrued.
The White House position is that Trump was describing the danger Iran would have posed had he not launched a war there earlier this year. Both cities host major US military sites, including Navy ports and Air Force bases.
