President Donald Trump's suggestion at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska Monday that Iran could "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego drew quick criticism from San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and other California Democratic elected officials.

"San Diego is not collateral damage," Gloria wrote on X. "We are not expendable. And we are never a 'small price to pay.' Keep our city out of your reckless war talk."

Trump said he wanted to "see a tremendous victory" in the November election "cause it verifies all the things we did. And again, remember, with the war it's just artificial, it's a little bit high.

"It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe," he continued. "They can take out a city, let 'em take out Los Angeles, let 'em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay."

On his X account, Gov. Gavin Newsom called Trump "deranged and dangerous." In a later post, he said that he was directing the State Threat Assessment Center to actively monitor the situation.

Democratic Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, D-San Diego, said Tuesday she had spoken with the local FBI field office and military leaders.

"There is no increased threat to San Diego," she said during a news conference Tuesday. "You are safe.”

Also on Tuesday, San Diego Unified leaders and educators pushed back against the President’s comments.

"As a school district, his reckless commentary leaves students wondering how their families and homes could be affected," the school district said in a statement. "The President’s words dismiss the military families who call San Diego home and send their students to San Diego Unified schools. 7,686 San Diego Unified students are military connected."

San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert said Trump's comment was "appalling and terrifying."

"Californians are already paying for this terrible war every time we fill up the tank," von Wilpert, the Democratic candidate for the open 48th Congressional District seat, said in a statement.

"Now, the president is talking about a foreign government attacking a United States city as if it was just the cost of doing business. This is an impeachable offense by the commander in chief, who swore an oath to protect our country. Our homes, our families and our communities cannot be treated as collateral damage or a political punchline by this president."

Von Wilpert's Republican opponent, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, said he "vehemently" disagreed with Trump's comments.

"America must stand up to Iran and defend our interests, but the first responsibility of our commander in chief is to protect the American people and our homeland," Desmond wrote on social media.

"As a Navy veteran, I served to protect Americans, not write off American cities as an acceptable price of war. Our job is to keep Americans safe, stand up to our enemies, and make sure a threat like that never becomes reality. No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage."

There was no immediate reply to an email sent late Monday night to the White House Press Office seeking a response to the comments by Gloria and Newsom.

On Tuesday morning, White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a post on X that Trump's remarks were "clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped."

Updated: October 6, 2026 at 6:00 PM PDT

This story was updated with remarks from Rep. Sara Jacobs, the San Diego Unified School District and White House spokesperson Steven Cheung.