President Trump told a crowd at a Nebraska political rally Monday night that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego, describing it as a “small price to pay” for keeping the world and the country safe. The remark drew cheers from rally attendees. If you live on the Suncoast, where so many of us have family in the Navy or ties to California, that one probably landed differently.
Governor Gavin Newsom responded on X by calling Trump “deranged and dangerous.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria also condemned the statement. Gloria said, “San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay.’” Trump later said the Iran war was “essentially almost over with.”
Both cities carry serious military and economic weight. San Diego is home to major Navy installations and thousands of service members. Los Angeles anchors the largest port complex in the Western Hemisphere. When a president speaks about either one as expendable, it moves the conversation from politics into national security, and that affects all of us, even here in Sarasota and Manatee County.
What do you think? Should a president ever describe an American city as a small price to pay?
