Trump draws backlash after he suggests Iran could ‘take out’ Los Angeles or San Diego

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Officials in California denounced comments made by President Donald Trump as “dangerous” on Monday after he appeared to suggest Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego – major cities in a state he has often criticized.

Trump was speaking at a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska , ahead of the midterm elections and said he wanted to see “a tremendous victory because it verifies all the things we did.”

The president called the war with Iran a “small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” adding that Iran could take out a city.

“Let, let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. That’s this is a very small price to pay and it’s gonna be over with very soon,” Trump said in comments that drew swift backlash from California’s leaders.

CNN has reached out to the White House for more information on what Trump meant by his comments about the two cities.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom called the president “deranged and dangerous,” while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the statements against the city “could potentially compromise our safety.”

“The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” said Bass, also a Democrat.

The Democratic mayor of San Diego, Todd Gloria, said the city “is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a ‘small price to pay.’ Keep our city out of your reckless war talk.”

The president went on to say that the war is “going to end very soon.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

穆罕默德·埃瑟/阿纳多卢/盖蒂图片社

周一，唐纳德·特朗普总统发表言论，似乎暗示伊朗可能会“摧毁”洛杉矶或圣地亚哥——这两个他经常批评的加州主要城市——之后，加州官员谴责特朗普的言论“危险”。

在内布拉斯加州格兰德岛举行的中期选举集会上，特朗普发表讲话，称他希望看到“一场巨大的胜利，因为它验证了我们所做的一切”。

总统称与伊朗的战争是“为了维护世界安全、维护我们国家安全而付出的微小代价”，并补充说伊朗可以摧毁一座城市。

“让他们拿下洛杉矶吧，让他们拿下圣地亚哥吧。这只是很小的代价，很快就会结束，”特朗普的这番言论迅速招致加州领导人的强烈反对。

CNN已联系白宫，希望了解更多关于特朗普对这两个城市的言论的含义。

民主党籍州长加文·纽森称总统“精神错乱且危险”，而洛杉矶市长凯伦·巴斯表示，针对该市的言论“可能会危及我们的安全”。

“总统的职责是保护国家，而不是积极威胁国家，鼓励对美国人生命进行攻击，”同样身为民主党人的巴斯说道。

圣地亚哥市民主党籍市长托德·格洛里亚表示，该市“不是附带损害。我们不是可有可无的。我们绝非‘微不足道的代价’。请不要把我们的城市卷入你们鲁莽的战争言论中。”

总统接着说，这场战争“很快就会结束”。

这是一则正在更新的新闻。