Does Trump want Iran to nuke LA? His 'take out Los Angeles' remark, in context

Five-second answer

Claim we investigated

Trump wants Iran to nuke Los Angeles.

Misleading. Trump said "let them take out Los Angeles" while defending war costs, then vowed to prevent such attacks. The recorded transcript, independent news transcriptions, the White House response and Trump's own follow-up two days later all show an ambiguous hypothetical about Iran's capabilities, not a stated wish for a nuclear strike.

Quote or cite this fact-check

FactHub rates the claim “Trump wants Iran to nuke Los Angeles” Misleading (moderate confidence): Trump said "let them take out Los Angeles" while defending war costs, then vowed to prevent such attacks. Reviewed October 11, 2026. https://facthub.org/n/article/trump-iran-take-out-los-angeles/2

One-minute summary

What the evidence establishes

Trump did say, at an Oct. 5, 2026 rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, that Iran "can take out a city" and "let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego."
The line came inside his recurring argument that high fuel prices are a small price to pay for the Iran war.
The word "nuclear" does not appear in the passage as the New York Times transcribed it.
The White House said the next day he meant U.S. cities would have been threatened had a nuclear Iran not been stopped.
At a San Antonio rally on Oct. 7, Trump repeated "let them hit" the two cities but added "we're not going to let that happen."
No statement, policy or action we found shows Trump wants Los Angeles attacked; his intent on Oct. 5 remains a matter of interpretation.

Important context: The remark is real and was widely shared: on October 5, 2026, at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, during the eighth month of the U.S.-Iran war, Trump said Iran "can take out a city" and "let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego" while arguing that high fuel prices are a small price to pay for the war. This check rates only the stronger claim that he wants Iran to destroy Los Angeles with a nuclear weapon; it does not judge whether the remark was appropriate, and it does not rate other criticism of Trump's treatment of California.

The evidence

The conclusion rests on the combined record. Expand each item to see its role and limitations.

Independence note: This check uses 4 methods across 10 institutions and 2 countries or international groupings.

Evidence map
Method	Institution / country	Year(s)	What it shows	Key limitation	Primary links
Primary transcript of a recorded speech, cross-checked against independent news transcriptions	Roll Call Factba.se, The New York Times, KTLA United States	2026	The Roll Call Factba.se transcript of the roughly 75-minute Grand Island rally and the New York Times text place the remark inside Trump's argument about war-related prices. As transcribed by the Times, he said the price rise was "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe," then: "They can take out a city. Let them take, let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego," before returning to the claim that it was a very small price to pay and the war would end soon. KTLA's independent transcription matches in substance. The word "nuclear" does not appear in this passage.	Transcripts record words, not intent. Outlets differ slightly on fillers ("let 'em" versus "let them"), and the passage is grammatically loose, so more than one reading is possible. All transcriptions derive from the same recorded event.	Roll Call Factba.se The New York Times (via Hawaii Tribune-Herald syndication) KTLA
Official statement from the speaker's office	The White House, The New York Times, Spectrum News United States	2026	On October 6, White House communications director Steven Cheung said the media reaction was "not rooted in reality" and that Trump was stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran had not been stopped, as reported by the New York Times. A White House social media account separately said the president is fighting to stop Iran from having the ability to strike Los Angeles and San Diego with a nuclear weapon, according to Spectrum News.	This is the speaker's own office explaining his words after a backlash, so it is self-interested and not independent evidence of what he meant at the time.	The New York Times (via Hawaii Tribune-Herald syndication) Spectrum News
Contemporaneous news reporting of a later speech by the same speaker	Gray News, The Associated Press, FOX 11 Los Angeles (KTTV) United States	2026	At a rally in San Antonio, Texas, Trump returned to the remark. Gray News, with AP contributing, reported him saying "Let them hit San Diego, let them hit Los Angeles," followed by "We're not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. We protect our country." FOX 11 Los Angeles reported similar wording, including a reference to a missile, and the line that "we're not letting that happen."	Trump's later remarks were made after two days of criticism and may reflect damage control rather than his original meaning. He also repeated the "let them hit" phrasing, which some officials, including Mayor Bass, treated as doubling down.	Gray News (WLOX), with The Associated Press FOX 11 Los Angeles (KTTV)
Comparison of news coverage across outlets and countries	ABC News (ABC7/ABC11), 1News (New Zealand), carrying Reuters reporting United States, New Zealand	2026	Mainstream coverage generally described Trump as having "appeared to suggest" or "suggested" that Iran could take out the two cities, and several reports noted that his meaning was not immediately clear. ABC stations wrote that he seemed to imply Iran would have been capable of striking a U.S. city. 1News in New Zealand, citing Reuters, reported both the condemnation from California leaders and the White House position that Trump was referring to the threat of a nuclear Iran. None of the outlets we reviewed reported any statement or action by Trump indicating a wish for a nuclear attack on Los Angeles.	Headlines and characterizations reflect editorial judgment, and most outlets relied on the same rally video. Coverage cannot establish intent any more than the transcript can.	ABC News (ABC11/ABC7) 1News (New Zealand), carrying Reuters

1. What Trump said on October 5, in full context

The Roll Call Factba.se transcript of the roughly 75-minute Grand Island rally and the New York Times text place the remark inside Trump's argument about war-related prices. As transcribed by the Times, he said the price rise was "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe," then: "They can take out a city. Let them take, let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego," before returning to the claim that it was a very small price to pay and the war would end soon. KTLA's independent transcription matches in substance. The word "nuclear" does not appear in this passage.

Limit: Transcripts record words, not intent. Outlets differ slightly on fillers ("let 'em" versus "let them"), and the passage is grammatically loose, so more than one reading is possible. All transcriptions derive from the same recorded event.

Verify: Speech: Donald Trump Holds a Midterm Political Rally in Grand Island, Nebraska - October 5, 2026 What, exactly, did Trump say about Iran taking out Los Angeles? Trump on war in Iran: 'Let 'em take out Los Angeles, let 'em take out San Diego'

2. The White House's explanation the next day

On October 6, White House communications director Steven Cheung said the media reaction was "not rooted in reality" and that Trump was stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran had not been stopped, as reported by the New York Times. A White House social media account separately said the president is fighting to stop Iran from having the ability to strike Los Angeles and San Diego with a nuclear weapon, according to Spectrum News.

Limit: This is the speaker's own office explaining his words after a backlash, so it is self-interested and not independent evidence of what he meant at the time.

Verify: What, exactly, did Trump say about Iran taking out Los Angeles? Trump says let Iran take out Los Angeles and San Diego, drawing criticism

3. Trump's own follow-up on October 7

At a rally in San Antonio, Texas, Trump returned to the remark. Gray News, with AP contributing, reported him saying "Let them hit San Diego, let them hit Los Angeles," followed by "We're not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. We protect our country." FOX 11 Los Angeles reported similar wording, including a reference to a missile, and the line that "we're not letting that happen."

Limit: Trump's later remarks were made after two days of criticism and may reflect damage control rather than his original meaning. He also repeated the "let them hit" phrasing, which some officials, including Mayor Bass, treated as doubling down.

Verify: Trump tries to smooth over controversial remarks about Iran striking San Diego, Los Angeles Trump doubles down on 'let them hit' LA, San Diego comment before adding he won't let scenario play out

4. How independent outlets characterized the remark

Mainstream coverage generally described Trump as having "appeared to suggest" or "suggested" that Iran could take out the two cities, and several reports noted that his meaning was not immediately clear. ABC stations wrote that he seemed to imply Iran would have been capable of striking a U.S. city. 1News in New Zealand, citing Reuters, reported both the condemnation from California leaders and the White House position that Trump was referring to the threat of a nuclear Iran. None of the outlets we reviewed reported any statement or action by Trump indicating a wish for a nuclear attack on Los Angeles.

Limit: Headlines and characterizations reflect editorial judgment, and most outlets relied on the same rally video. Coverage cannot establish intent any more than the transcript can.

Verify: Trump suggests letting Iran 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign event 'Let 'em take out Los Angeles': Trump's Iran remark sparks state fury

Common questions

“He literally said "let them take out Los Angeles." How is that not saying he wants it?”

The quotation is accurate, and the wording is genuinely open to that reading, which is why officials in both parties objected. But the full passage frames it as part of an argument that the war is worth its costs because it keeps the country safe, and Trump's own follow-up said he would not allow such attacks. Saying something ambiguous is not the same as stating a desire, and nothing else in the record shows that desire.

“The crowd cheered, which shows the line was meant as a wish.”

Crowd reaction shows how listeners in the room responded, not what the speaker intended. Rally audiences often cheer rhythmic or emphatic lines regardless of their literal content. It is relevant context about the remark's effect, not evidence of intent.

“The White House explanation is just spin.”

It may be; it is self-interested, and this check does not rely on it alone. The rating rests mainly on the full transcript and on the absence of any statement, policy or action indicating a wish to see Los Angeles attacked. Trump's own later remarks point the same way, though they too came after the backlash.

“Iran's threat is nuclear, so "take out a city" means nuking it.”

The administration frames the war as stopping an Iranian nuclear weapon, and the White House cited that framing, so a nuclear reference is a plausible reading of what Iran might do. But Trump did not use the word in the passage, and in San Antonio he referred to a missile. The "nuke" in the claim is an inference added by those sharing it.

“Trump has repeatedly attacked Los Angeles and sent troops there, so this fits a pattern.”

His conflicts with California's leaders, including federal troop deployments, are real and are a reasonable reason critics took the remark badly. They are separate from the specific claim that he wants a foreign power to destroy the city, for which we found no evidence.

Conclusion

The words at the center of this claim are accurately quoted. Every transcription we found, including the Roll Call Factba.se transcript, the New York Times text and independent transcriptions by KTLA and ABC stations, records Trump saying that Iran can take out a city and then "let them take out Los Angeles; let them take out San Diego," to cheers. Read in isolation, "let them" can sound like permission or indifference, and California officials of both parties, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Republican Jim Desmond, read it that way. The surrounding passage points to a different, if clumsy, meaning. The sentence sits inside a recurring argument Trump makes at rallies: that elevated gasoline prices are a small price to pay because the war keeps the country safe. The most natural reading of the passage is a hypothetical about what Iran could do to an American city if it were not stopped, delivered in Trump's loose, associative speaking style. That reading is supported by two later statements: the White House communications director said the president meant U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran had not been stopped, and Trump himself told a San Antonio rally on October 7 that "we're not going to let that happen" and "we protect our cities." Neither later statement is independent of Trump, and both are self-interested, so they cannot prove what he meant on October 5. Nor did his follow-up fully retreat: he repeated "let them hit" San Diego and Los Angeles before adding that he would not allow it, which critics reasonably found no more reassuring. What the evidence does not contain is any statement, policy, order or action indicating that Trump wants Iran, or anyone, to strike Los Angeles, with a nuclear weapon or otherwise. The word "nuclear" does not appear in the passage as the New York Times transcribed it; the nuclear framing comes from the administration's stated war aim of preventing an Iranian bomb and from the White House's own explanation. We therefore rate the claim Misleading: it rests on an accurate quotation but converts an ambiguous hypothetical into a stated desire, and adds a nuclear element Trump did not say in that passage. Confidence is Moderate rather than High because intent cannot be observed directly, the remark is genuinely ambiguous, and the clarifications come from Trump and his staff. New evidence of a different meaning, such as additional remarks by Trump, would warrant a review.

How we checked

Defined the claim precisely as circulated: that Trump wants Iran to attack Los Angeles with a nuclear weapon, as distinct from whether his remark was appropriate.
Located the full Roll Call Factba.se transcript of the October 5, 2026 Grand Island rally and the New York Times transcription of the surrounding passage.
Cross-checked the wording against independent transcriptions by KTLA, ABC stations and other outlets.
Collected the White House's response and Trump's own follow-up remarks at the October 7 San Antonio rally, as reported by Gray News/AP and FOX 11.
Reviewed coverage from outside the United States (1News, carrying Reuters reporting) to check for differing accounts.
Searched for any statement, policy, order or action indicating a wish to see Los Angeles attacked; none was found.
Recorded the limits of each source, especially that intent cannot be read directly from words and that clarifications came from Trump and his staff.
Archived each source with FactHub's archive tool; several Wayback captures timed out and are noted in the editorial note.

Editorial note: Scope: this check rates whether Trump wants Iran to attack Los Angeles with a nuclear weapon, based on his October 5, 2026 remark and its aftermath. It does not assess whether the remark was responsible, the merits of the Iran war, or Trump's separate deployment of the National Guard and Marines to California. Quotes from the October 5 speech follow the New York Times transcription; outlets transcribed small fillers slightly differently (for example "let 'em" versus "let them", "can" versus "could"), which does not change the meaning. Several Wayback Machine captures timed out at the time of writing; sources without an archived link carry a content digest of the page as FactHub fetched it, and captures should be retried before publication. No external specialist review has been recorded.

Expert-review status

No external specialist review has been recorded.

Funding and conflicts

Funding: No external funding for this piece.

Ownership: FactHub is an independent fact-checking project; no owner or funder reviewed this article.

Conflicts: No known conflicts of interest.

Sources

Sources are labeled by their role so readers can evaluate the evidence independently.

Primary transcript Roll Call Factba.se. Speech: Donald Trump Holds a Midterm Political Rally in Grand Island, Nebraska - October 5, 2026
Full machine-and-editor transcript of the rally with speaker attribution; chosen as the nearest available primary record of Trump's exact words.
Archived copy captured October 9, 2026
News transcription and official response The New York Times (via Hawaii Tribune-Herald syndication). What, exactly, did Trump say about Iran taking out Los Angeles?
Shawn McCreesh's report prints the full surrounding passage and the White House communications director's statement; the syndicated copy is used because it is not paywalled. Original: nytimes.com/2026/10/06/us/politics/trump-iran-take-out-los-angeles.html.
Independent news transcription KTLA. Trump on war in Iran: 'Let 'em take out Los Angeles, let 'em take out San Diego'
Los Angeles station's own transcription of the passage, chosen as a check on the Times and Factba.se wording.
News report of official response Spectrum News. Trump says let Iran take out Los Angeles and San Diego, drawing criticism
Reports the White House social media account's response and bipartisan criticism; chosen as a second outlet for the administration's position.
News report of later speech Gray News (WLOX), with The Associated Press. Trump tries to smooth over controversial remarks about Iran striking San Diego, Los Angeles
Reports Trump's October 7 San Antonio remarks returning to the subject, with California officials' responses.
Independent news report of later speech FOX 11 Los Angeles (KTTV). Trump doubles down on 'let them hit' LA, San Diego comment before adding he won't let scenario play out
Second, independent account of the San Antonio remarks, including the missile reference and Mayor Bass's response.
Archived copy captured October 10, 2026
Independent news report ABC News (ABC11/ABC7). Trump suggests letting Iran 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign event
Network report from Grand Island describing the remark and reaction; chosen as an independent account of the event.
Archived copy captured October 11, 2026
Non-U.S. news coverage 1News (New Zealand), carrying Reuters. 'Let 'em take out Los Angeles': Trump's Iran remark sparks state fury
Non-U.S. outlet carrying Reuters reporting, including both California officials' condemnation and the White House position.

Update history

October 11, 2026 First draft.
October 11, 2026 Added a FactHub-original skyline illustration as the main image.

For search, research, and AI systems

Machine-readable fact-check

This page includes standardized ClaimReview metadata describing the exact claim, FactHub's finding, publisher, and review dates. You can inspect the record below and confirm that it matches the article you just read.

View ClaimReview JSON

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ClaimReview","url":"https://facthub.org/n/article/trump-iran-take-out-los-angeles/2","datePublished":"2026-10-11","dateModified":"2026-10-11","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"FactHub","url":"https://facthub.org/"},"claimReviewed":"Trump wants Iran to nuke Los Angeles.","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","alternateName":"Misleading"},"image":"https://facthub.org/node-assets-v2/article/trump-iran-take-out-los-angeles/2/la-skyline-dusk/social-1200x630.jpg"}

This metadata helps machines discover the fact-check. It does not prove the conclusion or guarantee special treatment by a search engine.

Challenge this fact-check

Every source above is linked so you can check it yourself. Identify the specific conclusion you dispute and provide verifiable evidence that could change it. Credible challenges deserve review and a visible response.

Submit evidence Send general feedback instead

Technical details: node handle article:trump-iran-take-out-los-angeles

Trump's LA remark was ambiguous; he later vowed to protect the city.