California screamin’: Trump says Iran taking out LA and San Diego would be ‘small price to pay’

TOI correspondent from Washington: MAGA boss Donald Trump has never been particularly sentimental about California, a state that has rejected him by 20 to 30 points in the last three presidential elections. But suggesting that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego — and calling their destruction “a very small price to pay” — carried the president’s long-running feud with the Golden State into distinctly darker territory.At a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday night, Trump was explaining away the economic pain caused by his war on Iran when his verbal GPS appeared to lose the signal. “With the war, it’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high,” Trump said, apparently referring to prices. Then came the sentence that jolted American politics: “It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego.” The crowd, mostly Trump faithful, cheered.For the liberal-left phalanx, the comment was less about Iran than another Trump strike against California, a Democratic fortress. California Governor Gavin Newsom called Trump “deranged and dangerous.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the president’s job was to protect Americans, not encourage attacks on them. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria snapped, “San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable.”Ironically, San Diego is not just an American entrepot with golden beaches and lovely weather. It is home to one of Trump favored constituencies — the American military. The city is a base to the Pacific Fleet, and includes major Navy and Marine installations, submarines, and aircraft carriers. An attack on San Diego would not simply ruin someone’s weekend plans in La Jolla; it would hit a major component of American military power.“San Diego is a proud military town, home to 115,000 courageous active duty service members and their families. Military service is at the root of our community and culture. This month we await the return home of the sailors and marines still stranded on the USS Lincoln for months thanks to Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran,” raged Congressman Scott Peters, a San Diego Democrat, asserting that “America knows San Diego is not a “small price to pay” for his inability to resolve it.”The White House rapid-response team promptly went into linguistic damage control. “No, he didn’t, you buffoons,” it pushed back, arguing that Trump was not inviting Iran to attack California, but explaining why the US must prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capable of attacking American cities. That defense has one problem: the footage and the transcript: “Let ’em take out Los Angeles. Let ’em take out San Diego,” before declaring the loss “a very small price to pay.”This is where Trump’s unique oratorical skill, which some have compared to that of a third-grader, becomes politically hazardous. His defenders have to routinely perform interpretive gymnastics worthy of a trapeze artist because the president’s trademark rambling leaves them explaining what he must have meant — while opponents quote what he actually said.The timing of the latest flub could hardly be worse for Republicans. Four weeks before the midterm elections on November 3, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday put Trump’s approval at just 32%, while Democrats led Republicans nationally among registered voters 44% to 37%. Several surveys shows Democrat candidates for Senate and governorships leading in such unlikely red states as Texas and Kansas.Even Republicans are now showing signs of Trump fatigue. MAGA rallies of yore were political oxygen for Trump: enormous crowds, roaring chants, the candidate basking in adulation. Lately, reports describe smaller crowds, visible empty sections and supporters leaving before Trump finishes. Trump, though, insists the enthusiasm is “hotter than ever” — presumably not as hot as Californians under the collar this week.