You may have seen the dozens of headlines this week blasting President Donald Trump for suggesting we allow Iran to “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego and saying it would be a “small price to pay.” Big shock: The oft-discredited media completely made that story up.
What Trump actually said is that the higher gas prices caused by the Iran war are a small price to pay in comparison to the terrorist regime striking major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego. You can agree or disagree with that sentiment — I happen to agree — but to flip his quote upside down and claim he’s offering to allow Iran to strike the California cities is brazenly dishonest.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s the transcript:
“I want to see a tremendous victory. You want to see a tremendous victory because it verifies all the things we did. And again, remember, with the war, it’s [high gas prices] just artificial. It’s a little bit high. It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They [Iran] can take out a city. Let them take, let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. That’s — this [high gas prices] is a very small price to pay, and it’s going to be over with very soon. It’s essentially almost over with.”
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on Oct. 5 in Grand Island, Nebraska. (Alex Brandon/AP)
" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?w=696" height="658" width="1024" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?w=696" alt="President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on Oct. 5 in Grand Island, Nebraska. (Alex Brandon/AP)" class="wp-image-4760542" style="width:771px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg 1400w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...26/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?resize=300,193 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...26/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?resize=768,494 768w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...6/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?resize=1024,658 1024w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?resize=150,96 150w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...26/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?resize=696,447 696w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...6/10/YL.TrumpRally.101426.jpg?resize=1068,687 1068w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on Oct. 5 in Grand Island, Nebraska. (Alex Brandon/AP)
Let’s see how the fake news media handled it.
Los Angeles Times: Trump suggests letting Iran ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign rally
ABC: Trump suggests letting Iran ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign event
Time magazine: Newsom Calls for 25th Amendment After Trump Imagines Iran Attacking California
BBC: White House defends Trump comment to let Iran ‘take out’ LA and San Diego
Rolling Stone: California Leaders Erupt After Trump Suggests Letting Iran ‘Take Out’ Cities
People: Trump Suggests Iran ‘Take Out’ L.A. and San Diego During Campaign Rally, Drawing Condemnation from Calif. Officials
The list goes on and on. Each article has three things in common: 1) a false claim that Trump suggested Iran should strike the California cities, when in reality he implied his war efforts are an attempt to prevent this; 2) a false claim that he called Iran striking Los Angeles and San Diego a “small price to pay,” when he was referring to higher gas prices; and 3) a blatant disregard for the facts driven by anti-Trump bias.
The worst part is that these stories are still online and haven’t been retracted! If the media were interested in preserving what little credibility they have left, one would at least expect an editor’s note acknowledging the mistake.
Each time I covered a Trump rally on the 2024 campaign trail, the president would point out the media section and encourage the crowd to boo us — and boy, were the jeers intense. But I said it then, and I repeat it now: I don’t blame them! The media’s lies and obsession with painting the president as an evil dictator have fueled hostility toward him, cost him the 2020 election, and made the 2016 and 2024 elections more competitive than they ought to have been.
The latest ordeal is eerily reminiscent of when the media pushed the 2017 “very fine people on both sides” hoax, claiming Trump praised Charlottesville neo-Nazis — when he outright said, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally.”
IT COULD HAVE BEEN ISRAEL’S 9/11. THE MEDIA CALLED IT A ‘MIDAIR ALTERCATION’
I also find it ironic that the media were so hesitant to call last week’s attempted Flydubai Flight 1073 hijacking a “suspected hijacking” despite Israel’s assertion that it was — in the name of waiting for the facts to come out — yet they did not take the time to fact-check the claim that Trump suggested Iran “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego.
Not for nothing, but if the media took a day off, the lack of news would be a “small price” to pay for the break in anti-Trump insanity.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
