Trump doubles down on 'let them hit' LA, San Diego comment before adding he won't let scenario play out

SAN ANTONIO (KTTV) - President Donald Trump appears to have doubled down on his controversial comment about Los Angeles and San Diego from earlier in the week.

"Let them hit"

During a campaign rally in San Antonio on Wednesday, Trump addressed his comment from a separate rally in Nebraska.

"I said it the other day, let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles on the way. Let them hit," Trump said on Wednesday. "You want a horror show? You want to see problems? Let them hit San Diego. Let them hit Los Angeles, and you want to see some bad things happen. You want a see a country that would be in free fall."

Trump, however, did go on to say that the U.S. would not let such a scenario play out.

"We protect our cities, we protect our country," he added on Wednesday. "We're not letting that happen."

LA Mayor demands investigation

Shortly after Trump's speech on Wednesday made rounds on social media, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass joined the FOX 11 newscast to share her thoughts on the president doubling down.

"I do not understand why the President of the United States, whose number one job is to protect and defend the American people, would make a statement anywhere near what he has made," Bass told FOX 11's Phil Shuman and Lauran Diaz during the broadcast of LA Live News Tonight.

Bass added she has since made calls to lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to push for a congressional investigation into Trump's behavior.

"To evoke that statement on our city, when we went through what we went through last year, makes it irresponsible and just in an unknown degree," Bass said of Trump.

Two days prior to the Texas rally, Trump drew controversy after suggesting Iran could "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego.

"It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe," Trump said on Monday in Grand Island, Nebraska. "They can take out a city — let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay."

Prior to Wednesday's double-down comment, White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung had downplayed the backlash against his boss, calling the widespread reaction a "media freakout." Cheung issued a statement on social media trying to clarify Trump's comments from Monday:

"The media freakout over President Trump’s comments is not rooted in reality," Cheung wrote on X earlier in the week. "He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn't been stopped. America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money."

This story was reported from Los Angeles.

Donald J. Trump