Forty-three Democratic members of Congress from California are demanding an apology from President Donald Trump after he appeared to invite Iran to strike Los Angeles and San Diego while defending the war and rising prices.
Trump made the remarks Tuesday. Discussing the war and high prices, he said: “It’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high. It’s a small price to pay. They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego…”
The California Congressional Democratic Delegation responded with a joint statement, shared by delegation chair Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
“Upon taking office, the President swears to uphold the Constitution and to protect us from our enemies.”
The lawmakers said Trump, while defending what they called his “unconstitutional war against Iran,” appeared, “incredibly, to invite Iran to destroy two American cities.”
They called on the president to apologize to the more than 16 million Americans who live in the Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas, and to “all Americans who expect more out of our President.”
The statement was signed by Lofgren, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, and 40 other House Democrats from California, including Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Pete Aguilar, Ted Lieu, Maxine Waters, Ro Khanna, Mike Levin, Scott Peters, Sara Jacobs and Juan Vargas.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom also condemned the remarks, writing that after sending the National Guard and Marines to “occupy California,” Trump was now saying foreign enemies should “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego.
“He is deranged and dangerous,” Newsom wrote.
In a follow-up post on X, Newsom pressed lawmakers to act.
“An American president is talking about Los Angeles and San Diego being ‘taken out.’ Where the hell is Congress? This is dangerous. The time to stand up is NOW,” he wrote.
