Trump’s Iran Remarks Stir Dispute Involving Los Angeles and San Diego

Donald Trump’s remarks about Iran, in a controversy involving Los Angeles and San Diego, drew a sharp rebuke from Gavin Newsom and a defense from the White House.

Newsom described the remarks as “deranged,” taking aim at Trump’s comments rather than offering the interpretation later put forward by the administration.

The White House said Trump was warning about the risks Iran could pose if it acquired a nuclear weapon.

That explanation framed the remarks as a warning about a hypothetical nuclear threat. It did not amount to a claim that Iran already possessed a nuclear weapon.