White House denies Trump suggested Iran should 'take out' US cities

• Viral footage showed comments by Trump at a midterm elections rally in Nebraska on Monday, where he said high oil prices from the Iran war were justified by the need to stop Tehran getting nuclear weapons.

U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters while Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on, as they attend a meeting with oil industry executives, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 9, 2026. REUTERS

The White House pushed back Tuesday after Democrats accused President Donald Trump of suggesting Iran should "take out" the major US cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Viral footage showed comments by Trump at a midterm elections rally in Nebraska on Monday, where he said high oil prices from the Iran war were justified by the need to stop Tehran getting nuclear weapons.

"It's a little bit high. It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe," Trump said.

"They can take out a city. Let them take, 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."

Democrats -- who control the state of California where both Los Angeles and San Diego are located -- accused the 80-year-old Republican president of encouraging Iran to hit the two urban centers.

"Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego. He is deranged and dangerous," California Governor Gavin Newsom said on X.

"The nuclear annihilation of an American city is no laughing matter," Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the US House of Representatives, said on X.

But the White House insisted Trump was talking about the threat posed by Iran, branding it a "media freakout" that was "not rooted in reality."

"He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped," White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on X.

The White House's Rapid Response account on X took issue with a Los Angeles Times headline saying Trump had suggested "letting Iran 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego."

"No, he didn't, you buffoons. He was saying the US is fighting to STOP Iran from having the ability to take out LA and San Diego with a nuclear weapon — which they would if they had the chance," it said.

Trump is hitting the road in the last month before the midterms amid Republican fears that voter anger over the Iran war and high prices could cost them control of Congress.