‘Let ’em take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego, Trump says of Iran

Read the original at Global News ↗
Global News · collected 2026-10-06 · by Globalnews Digital

Quick Summary

During a political rally in Nebraska, President Donald Trump provoked controversy by suggesting that Iran could attack major American cities like Los Angeles and San Diego, with supporters cheering his comments. Following this statement, California Governor Gavin Newsom called Trump “deranged and dangerous” on the social media platform X. The incident highlights Trump’s pattern of disparaging large Democratic-leaning cities in the United States, a practice evident during his presidency when he deployed federal troops to such cities without local consent.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

At a campaign rally in Nebraska, former US President Donald Trump suggested letting Iran "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego to highlight his stance on high gas prices due to the war with Iran. He claimed these were "small prices to pay for keeping the world safe." Attendees cheered the suggestion, but it drew immediate backlash from California leaders. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria emphasized their cities' significance, noting Los Angeles houses key military installations and research centers while San Diego is home to Naval Base San Diego and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Governor Gavin Newsom called Trump's comments "deranged and dangerous," highlighting the threat to 10+ million US residents in two of America’s largest cities.

Written for “Trump Iran Comments California” on 2026-10-06, grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 60137: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-06

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
33%
4 of 12 hedged
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Correction & hedging signals
63.8
corrections and hedging in what we collected; not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
9
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-10-06 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Trump Iran Comments California
Politics · 9 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 33% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Trump ponders whether Iran should 'take out Los Angeles' while defending higher gas prices and war with Iran same event · 100%
Daily Mail · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 10% hedged 4 of 39 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles describe the same rally where President Trump made comments about Iran 'taking out' Los Angeles and San Diego during a speech in Nebraska on the same date.”
Trump suggests he would let Iran ‘take out’ Los Angeles or San Diego same event · 100%
The Guardian · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 3 of 27 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe Trump making the same remarks about Iran taking out Los Angeles and San Diego during a rally in Nebraska on the same date.”
Trump suggests letting Iran "take out" L.A., San Diego during rally same event · 100%
CBS News · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 1 of 9 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe President Trump making the same provocative statement about Iran 'taking out' Los Angeles and San Diego during a rally in Nebraska on the same date.”
Trump jokes about letting Iran bomb Los Angeles and San Diego same event · 100%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe Trump's comments at a campaign rally in Nebraska about Iran bombing Los Angeles and San Diego on the same date.”
Trump suggests Iran could 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego same event · 100%
ABC News (US)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 67% hedged 2 of 3 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles describe President Trump's comments about Iran 'taking out' Los Angeles and San Diego during a political rally in Nebraska on the same date.”
California leaders hit back after Trump says Iran can 'take out' LA and San Diego same event · 100%
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 8% hedged 1 of 13 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles describe President Trump's comments during a rally in Nebraska about Iran potentially attacking Los Angeles and San Diego, at the same time on October 6, 2026.”
California officials condemn Trump for saying Iran could ‘take out’ Los Angeles or San Diego same event · 100%
NBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 15% hedged 4 of 27 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe President Trump's remarks about Iran 'taking out' Los Angeles or San Diego during a rally in Nebraska on the same date.”
Newsom blasts ‘deranged and dangerous’ Trump for joking that Iran could ‘take out’ LA and San Diego same event · 100%
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 28 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles report on President Trump's comments about Iran 'taking out' Los Angeles and San Diego during a rally in Nebraska.”
Trump says Ukraine and blue states to blame for high gas prices rather than the Iran war different event · 90%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 1 of 8 📰 publisher trust 72
“The articles describe different parts of Trump's statements on consecutive days, not the same specific incident at the same time.”

Publisher

Global News · 1268 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Globalnews Digital
347 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Then he added a new wrinkle, floating the idea that Tehran could “take out” two major American cities.
2026-10-06 · mixed framing · ‘Let ’em take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego, Trump says of Iran
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2026-10-06 · assertive framing · 5 takeaways from Quebec election as Parti Québécois forms minority government
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2026-10-06 · assertive framing · OneBC says former Conservative leader Findlay and husband Chapman were threatened
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2026-10-06 · assertive framing · Curaleaf sweetens Aurora Cannabis takeover offer after past rejection
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2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Catholic, Anglican bishops urge Albertans to consider referendum’s impact on vulnerable
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2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Cenovus Energy looks to grow as it signs $5.7B deal to buy Athabasca Oil
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2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Suncor sells of N.L. offshore assets, other oilsands giant bulks up Alberta holdings
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2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Teenager’s hand blown off as French school protests enter 3rd week
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Curaleaf sweetens Aurora Cannabis takeover offer after past rejection
2026-10-06 · Global News
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 347 articles by Globalnews Digital →

Topics

Iran Los Angeles Nebraska Tehran U.S.

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 5× U.S. GPE · 3× Iran GPE · 2× Los Angeles GPE · 2× American NORP · 1× California GPE · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Nebraska GPE · 1× San Diego GPE · 1× Tehran GPE · 1×

Narrative

Los Angeles was among the cities where Trump deployed federal military personnel for what he said was a crackdown on crime, despite local authorities not wanting the troops.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-06
🔮 Then he added a new wrinkle, floating the idea that Tehran could “take out” two major American cities.
2026-10-06 · Global News
‘Let ’em take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego, Trump says of Iran · mixed framing

Claims (12 extracted, 4 hedged)

U.S. President Donald Trump drew cheers, then criticism for musing about Iran taking out U.S. cities. asserted
Iran → draw → cities
During his rally Monday night in Nebraska, Trump was going through his usual insistence that gas prices are only temporarily high and worth it as part of his war on Iran. asserted
prices → go → Iran
Then he added a new wrinkle, floating the idea that Tehran could “take out” two major American cities. uncertain
Tehran → add → cities
“They could take out a city,” he said. uncertain
he → take → city
“Let ‘em take out Los Angeles. asserted
em → let → Angeles
Let ’em take out San Diego.” asserted
’em → let → Diego
He continued as the crowd laughed and cheered: “This is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon.” asserted
it → continue → ?
Get breaking National news California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who may run for president in 2028, answered on X, calling Trump “deranged and dangerous.” uncertain
who → get → Trump
Trump has a history of denigrating U.S. cities, especially the largest ones that lean heavily Democratic. asserted
that → have → cities
Los Angeles was among the cities where Trump deployed federal military personnel for what he said was a crackdown on crime, despite local authorities not wanting the troops. asserted
authorities → deploy → troops
At a recent North Carolina campaign rally, Trump said the state’s cities are “blood-soaked killing fields.” asserted
cities → say → rally
North Carolina’s violent crime rate ranks in the middle third of states, according to FBI statistics. uncertain
rate → rank → statistics
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