The stronger point is the contradiction, not the city count. Trump wasn’t warning that a nuclear Iran might hit those cities. He was pricing the war. Gas is “a small price.” Then, in the same breath: “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.” The crowd cheered. San Diego is the Pacific Fleet’s main homeport — so the commander in chief just named the Navy’s own base, and the country’s second-largest city, as acceptable damage in a war he says he's fighting to protect Americans. The White House cleanup (he meant they would have been threatened) doesn’t survive the words “let them” or the applause.