Statements by US President Donald Trump sparked a wave of anger in California, after he referred, while speaking about the cost of war with Iran and high fuel prices, to the possibility of “destroying” the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, describing that as “a very small price” in exchange for preserving the security of the United States and the world, according to the Independent newspaper.
Trump's statements came during a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, while addressing the rise in fuel prices resulting from "Operation Epic Fury."
Commenting on the escalating costs, Trump said: “Remember that the matter related to war is just an artificial situation; “The prices are kind of high.”
According to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price of fuel at the national level was $4.37 per gallon on Tuesday morning.
Trump continued: “It is a small price to pay to maintain the security of the world and the security of our country,” before adding: “They can destroy a city; Destroy Los Angeles, destroy San Diego. "This...this is a very small price to pay."
The US President added that the war will end soon, saying: “It will end very soon.” It's almost finished already. They may last a little longer. As you know; They always say that they have a great ability to tolerate pain. “They need to, trust me.”
Outrage in California
While Trump's statements regarding the two cities, which are run by Democrats, were met with cheers from his supporters belonging to the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement in Nebraska, they quickly sparked sharp criticism from officials and politicians in California.
The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, wrote on the “X” platform: “After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump now says that our foreign enemies must (eliminate) the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego. "He is a deranged and dangerous person."
In turn, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass criticized the president's statements, saying in a post: "The president's role is to protect the country, not to actually threaten it and incite attacks that would kill Americans."
In San Diego, Mayor Todd Gloria expressed his dissatisfaction, stressing that the city and its residents could not be treated as a price to be paid in war.
Gloria said: “San Diego is not ‘collateral damage’, we are not a party that can be dispensed with, and we are not a ‘small price’ to pay in any way. Keep our city away from your reckless talk about war.”
Marnie von Wilbert, San Diego City Council member and Democratic candidate for Congress, went so far as to say that Trump's statements require his impeachment and removal.
These statements come at a time when questions are increasing about the financial cost of the war with Iran. According to the US Department of Defense, the latest estimates indicate that the cost of the war, which Trump began jointly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year, amounted to $43 billion.
Two informed sources told Reuters that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fired, yesterday, Monday, one of Accenture’s contractors, due to a negligence that led to the disclosure of sensitive personal details of thousands of the office’s employees.
In a statement to Reuters, a senior official in the office confirmed that a contractor whose identity was not revealed did not properly update or repair the system for which he was responsible.
“To date, our review has concluded that the incident occurred as a result of a security flaw in a platform operated by an external organization, after a contractor failed to implement a security patch issued to secure the platform,” FBI Cybersecurity Division Chief Brett Laserman said in the statement. Accordingly, the FBI has dismissed the contractor and taken all necessary steps to mitigate any additional risks and protect our employees.”
The FBI did not reveal the identity of the platform or the external organization, but the two sources familiar with the matter said that the platform is Oracle's PeopleSoft, a human resources platform that a hacker group called Shiny Hunters said it exploited to hack the FBI's job site last month.
Oracle has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The two sources also said that the external organization is Accenture. Reuters has not yet been able to identify the contractor in question or know his current employment status.
Accenture said in a statement that it is “proud to support the FBI’s mission, and will continue to do so.” It did not respond to questions related to the contractor or what was said about his failure to make the required correction.
President Donald Trump approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hassan, a US Army psychiatrist who opened fire and killed 13 people at a military base in 2009, according to what the Pentagon announced on Monday.
On September 5, 2009, Nidal Hassan opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 and wounding 30. Hassan's execution will be the first execution carried out by the US military since 1961.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on the X platform that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “recommended, and President Donald J. Trump agreed to carry out the death sentence by firing squad by a US Army firing squad against the convicted terrorist Nidal Malek Hassan.
He added: “The Minister of the Army will determine the date and place of the sentence’s implementation.” The day of reckoning has finally come for Hassan.”
According to Agence France-Presse, a military jury sentenced Hassan to death in 2013 for carrying out a mass shooting at Fort Hood in an attack inspired by Al-Qaeda.
He chose to defend himself during the trial, but he did not call any witnesses or give any testimony, nor did he attempt to deny the charges against him. Court-appointed defense lawyers expressed concern that he was seeking the death penalty.
On November 5, 2009, Hassan, an American Muslim of Palestinian origin, opened fire inside a medical facility at Fort Hood, which was being used as a starting point for deploying soldiers in combat zones.
All the victims were dead and wounded soldiers. Hassan was shot by a civilian policeman who responded to the attack, and was partially paralyzed.
The court that convicted Hassan was informed that he opposed the American military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and that he communicated via the Internet with the extremist American preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the most prominent leaders of Al-Qaeda, who was later killed in a raid launched by an American drone in Yemen.
