Trump Says Media Twisted His Remarks on Iran, Gasoline Prices and U.S. Cities
Trump accuses news outlets of distorting his comparison between higher gasoline costs and the threat of Iranian nuclear strikes on San Diego and Los Angeles.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump accused news organizations of deliberately misrepresenting remarks he made about Iran, gasoline prices and the vulnerability of American cities to a nuclear attack.
Trump said his earlier comments compared a temporary rise in gasoline costs to the far graver scenario of Iranian missiles striking San Diego or Los Angeles. He called the coverage dishonest and said reporters understood his point but chose to distort it.
The post follows a speech Trump delivered on October 7 in San Antonio, Texas, where he repeated the comparison. “I said it the other day, “let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles” … You want to see some bad things happen? You want to see a country that would be in free fall?” Trump said during the speech, according to theguardian.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “The Fake and Artificial News is out there trying to say that I’m inviting the enemy to bomb San Diego and Los Angeles when, in actuality, what I was talking about was that a temporary increase in the price of Gasoline is a small price to pay for Iran not having a Nuclear Weapon and, if you want to see a big price, can you imagine what it would be like if they bombed San Diego and/or Los Angeles? All I was doing was making a comparison between paying a little more, for a short time, for Gasoline, versus the bombing of our Major Cities. Everybody knew that, the Fake News knew it as well, but they continue to go out and say that I am asking the enemy to bomb two Cities that I love. It’s totally clear what I say but, these people are Degenerates, and think they can continuously get away with Fake News! Trump” on October 8, 2026 at 2:59 PM ET.
This is Trump’s 5th message released today, and the last post was 1 hour ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 47 of his 539 posts over the last 30 days classified as Foreign Policy posts.
U.S. intelligence agencies assessed in March 2025 that Iran had abandoned its pursuit of nuclear weapons more than two decades earlier, according to theguardian. The intelligence community reported that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003, though pressure had built on him to do so. Trump ordered U.S. military strikes on Iran’s main nuclear-enrichment facility in June 2025, saying it had been “obliterated,” according to theguardian.
President Donald J. Trump speaks in Washington D.C.
© copyright Flickr with permission
The U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, 2026, opening a conflict now in its eighth month, according to aa.com.tr. Trump said on October 4 that Iran had “virtually given up any plans of a nuclear weapon,” according to aa.com.tr. He also claimed oil prices were decreasing after a prolonged period of elevated costs tied to the conflict.
“Oil is coming down. Oil is right now lower, and it’s been lower than it was under the Biden administration,” Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for a rally in Ohio, according to aa.com.tr.
Gasoline prices remain a pocketbook issue for millions of American drivers. Trump framed higher fuel costs as a short-term sacrifice to prevent a far worse outcome. The intelligence community’s 2025 assessment that Iran has not pursued nuclear weapons since 2003 undercuts the premise that an Iranian nuclear strike on U.S. soil was imminent.
Trump said in San Antonio that he was “ensuring that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” and that “we had no choice because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” according to theguardian. The intelligence community’s 2025 threat assessment, delivered to Congress, stated that Khamenei suspended the weapons program in 2003 and had not restarted it, according to theguardian. No public timeline has been announced for a new congressional review of Iran’s nuclear status or a reassessment of the conflict’s objectives.
Zenger analysis
Photo by Zenger analysis
President Trump is the author of Trump: The Art of the Deal, Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate, and Life, and Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life. Analyst and Trump supporter Rod Martin points to The Art of the Deal, Trump's 1987 book, as an explanation of his deal-making philosophy: making big announcements, pivoting often in public statements and, Martin says, ultimately getting what he wanted all along. Critics contend that Trump's books were published decades ago or were aimed at making money, not shedding light. "Generally," Martin said, "critics don't read The Art of the Deal. If they did, they would understand."