The White House on Tuesday denied that US President Donald Trump had called on Iran to destroy Los Angeles and San Diego, rejecting accusations from Democrats and saying his remarks had been taken out of context.
The administration said Trump was warning about the threat Tehran could pose if it obtained a nuclear weapon, according to AFP.
A widely circulated video showed Trump speaking at a campaign rally in Nebraska on Monday ahead of the US midterm elections. During the event, he defended higher oil prices linked to the Iran war, arguing that they were a relatively small cost for preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“Prices are a little high. It is a small price to pay to keep the world safe and to keep our country safe,” Trump said.
He then added: “They can destroy a city. Let them destroy, let them destroy Los Angeles, let them destroy San Diego. That’s a very small price, and this will be over very soon.”
Democrats seized on the remarks, accusing the Republican president of appearing to encourage Iran to attack two major US cities in California.
California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote on X that Trump was now saying foreign adversaries should “destroy Los Angeles and San Diego,” describing the president as “deranged and dangerous.”
House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also criticised the comments, saying that the destruction of an American city with a nuclear weapon was “not a laughing matter.”
The White House, however, insisted that Trump had been describing the danger Iran could pose if it became a nuclear-armed state and accused critics of fueling what it called “media hysteria.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on X that Trump had “clearly” been arguing that American cities would have faced a nuclear threat if Iran had not been prevented from obtaining such weapons.
The White House rapid-response account also criticised a Los Angeles Times headline suggesting Trump had proposed allowing Iran to destroy Los Angeles and San Diego.
“No, he didn’t say that,” the account wrote, arguing that Trump’s point was that the United States was fighting to prevent Iran from gaining the ability to destroy American cities with nuclear weapons.
Trump has intensified his campaign appearances in the final month before the midterm elections, as Republicans face concerns that voter frustration over the Iran war and rising prices could cost the party control of Congress.
