Gloria says San Diego is 'not collateral damage'
Todd GloriaMayor of San Diego
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wrote on X, "San Diego is not collateral damage. We are not expendable. And we are never a 'small price to pay.' Keep our city out of your reckless war talk."
Responding to
Trump accepts attacks on Los Angeles and San Diego as a cost of the Iran war: "if it means attacks on two major American cities in the process, he is not troubled by the cost."
“San Diego is not collateral damage.”
Original post
Where this statement fits
What did Trump mean when he said 'Let them take out Los Angeles' at a Nebraska rally?
At a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on October 5, 2026, President Donald Trump called the costs of the Iran war "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe" and said, "They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego." The passage followed remarks about the midterm elections and did not mention nuclear weapons; Trump had said earlier in the speech that Iran will not have one. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the mayors of Los Angeles and San Diego and other critics said Trump was inviting attacks on the two cities or treating them as an acceptable price for the war. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said Trump was stating that U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran had not been stopped. The dispute is over what Trump meant.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria's post on his official X account, quoting a clip of the rally remark.
Before the quotation
Gloria posted later that evening, quoting a video clip of the rally remark.
After the quotation
The post continues: "We are not expendable. And we are never a 'small price to pay.' Keep our city out of your reckless war talk."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is whether Trump's remark meant Iranian attacks on Los Angeles and San Diego would be an acceptable price for the war, as critics read it, rather than that the war prevents a nuclear Iran from being able to attack them, as the White House says. Gloria answers the remark by rejecting the idea that his city could be a "small price to pay" or collateral damage of the war, which treats the remark as accepting harm to San Diego and criticizes it. The closest competing label is Challenged the characterization, but his post objects to what he takes Trump to have said rather than disputing how others described it. Evidence: Gloria's own post on X.
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More from this case
Read the full caseDemocratic National Committee calls the remark 'disgusting and dangerous'
Democratic National Committee
“Disgusting and dangerous. End the war and hold him accountable.”Read statement
Todd Gloria says no American city should be "an acceptable price to pay" and asks Trump to retract the remark
“No American city, regardless of its politics or geography, should ever be described as expendable or an acceptable price to pay.”Read statement
White House Rapid Response account says Trump meant stopping a nuclear Iran
Rapid Response 47
“He was saying the U.S. is fighting to STOP Iran from having the ability to take out LA and San Diego with a nuclear weapon”Read statement
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- The Dispute Index
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- Gloria says San Diego is 'not collateral damage'
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Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Gloria says San Diego is 'not collateral damage'". First published: 2026-10-06. Last updated: 2026-10-06. https://disputeindex.com/events/4880-san-diego-mayor-todd-gloria-wrote-on-x