At a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday night, Donald Trump was talking about the Iran war and gas prices when he said, “Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego,” and called it “a very small price to pay.” The White House says he meant those cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran had not been stopped. The Trump Los Angeles San Diego reactions came from people who heard their zip code used in a sentence like that and simply could not let it go.
As someone who assumes every conversation in a room is secretly about me, I have never related to Los Angeles more. Two whole cities found out they were the topic, and neither one was invited.
Wait, Those Are Ours
The first wave of jokes was mostly a geography quiz. People wanted to know whether anyone had mentioned that both cities are in America, and San Diego residents pointed out that their town is basically a Navy base with a beach attached. It was also the original home of the Top Gun school, which produced the most polite burn of the week.
Los Angeles’s South Bay, meanwhile, reminded everyone that it is full of defense contractors, which is a very specific flavor of “are you sure about that.” I have never once been the strategic asset in a room, so I am a little jealous.
Trump San Diego Comments, Reviewed
Then the official reviews came in. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass went with “Keep LA out of your damn mouth,” which is the most Angeleno sentence ever typed, and Governor Gavin Newsom posted a much less fun one. Everybody else went straight to the reaction GIF folder, and Ron Burgundy did a lot of the heavy lifting.
My favorite is the stunned face, because it is the exact expression I make when someone at brunch tells me they do not have a skincare routine. It says everything without saying anything, which is my whole brand.
Everyone Asked Grok
A whole branch of people just wanted a straight answer about what he meant, including one user who asked X’s chatbot to analyze the remarks like a high school book report. PolitiFact has the full transcript of the Los Angeles and San Diego remarks, with the gas price talk that came right before them. Some people read it as a warning, and some went straight to the T word.
Then Came the Fan Art
By Tuesday the jokes had moved past words and into fully produced art, including an AI throne room portrait and a four-panel shrimp comic I will not be explaining at brunch. I looked at the shrimp one for a full minute, and I regret nothing.
Philadelphia even checked in from across the country with the Phillie Phanatic and a sign I cannot repeat here, a show of solidarity nobody asked for and everyone enjoyed.
My prediction is that by the weekend San Diego will be selling “Small Price to Pay” shirts at the airport, and Los Angeles will act like it does not care while quietly counting how many times it got mentioned first.
For anyone currently reading the news with one eye closed, the cure is 36 Overheard LA Best Of Quotes That Could Only Happen in Los Angeles, followed by 25 Trump Greenland Memes That Turned Diplomacy Into Slapstick and a gentle chaser of Trump Wince Memes Turned One B-1 Flyover Into Instant Comedy. Take all three with water.
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Phil M., Co‑Founder & Content Strategist
Phil is one of Thunder Dungeon’s co‑founders, doubling as our resident meme analyst and dark‑room brainstormer. He specializes in trend‑spotting across social platforms and shapes the editorial calendar to keep our galleries fresh, topical, and worthy of your valuable procrastination.
