Donald Trump’s reaction to a reporter’s question is turning heads across social media. The president dismissed a journalist asking about his controversial remarks on two major U.S. cities with a striking gesture at the White House.
Donald Trump makes a gesture as female reporter questions him
President Donald Trump dismissed a reporter’s question about his controversial remarks on Los Angeles and San Diego with a swatting gesture, The Daily Beast reported on Tuesday.
Trump made the comments at a rally in Nebraska on Monday while discussing the war with Iran. “They can take out a city—let ’em take, let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego. That’s—this is a very small price to pay,” Trump said, naming two Democrat-led California cities.
California Governor Gavin Newsom responded on X shortly after. “Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego. He is deranged and dangerous,” Newsom wrote.
At the White House on Tuesday, a reporter asked Trump to clarify his statement. He responded with a hand-swatting motion and walked away without answering. He had also ignored similar questions earlier that day before departing for Maryland.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported that White House journalists attempted to press Trump on three separate occasions. “When you look at the transcript and the audio of what he said there, he obviously heard the questions,” Collins said on Anderson Cooper 360°.
White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung defended the president’s words on X. “He was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” Cheung wrote.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass pushed back on CNN, saying she was “horrified” by Trump’s remarks. “What does that say about the United States on the world stage, that the president would say, ‘If you want to take out the nation’s second largest city, have at it,'” Bass told Cooper.
Bass also rejected the White House’s framing. “I understand that that press deputy wanted to paint it that way, as though we did not hear what we heard. But I’m sorry to say that it is on tape, and the entire world heard it,” she added.
