Donald Trump’s remark that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego has sparked fierce backlash from California politicians – and a strongly worded rebuttal from the White House.

California Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the comment – made by Trump at a campaign rally in Nebraska – as “deranged and dangerous,” while LA Mayor Karen Bass described them as threats and an attempt to “encourage attacks on American lives”.

According to the White House, however, Trump was saying that American cities would have been threatened by Iran had he not launched a war there earlier this year.

Both LA and San Diego house major US military installations including Navy ports and Air Force bases.

Trump, while speaking on Monday in Nebraska about the Iran conflict, said: “It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego.”

There were cheers from sections of the audience as the comments about the two Californian cities were made.

The morning after Trump’s statement, Governor Newsom announced that the “dangerous – if not treasonous” statement had prompted him to direct California’s State Threat Assessment Center to “monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the remarks as an invitation” to target California.

The agency is designed to detect and prevent security threats in the state.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wrote that the city was not collateral damage in a post on X, while demanding Trump keep it out of his “reckless war talk”.

Trump is yet to respond to the statements made by California’s leaders.

In a post on X, White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung described the “media freakout” over Trump’s comments as “not rooted in reality”.

“He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” Cheung wrote. “America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money”.

The president and other administration officials often claim that disrupting Iran’s nuclear programme was essential for US national security, and that any issues that have stemmed from the conflict were necessary.

A separate X post, from the official White House rapid response account, described journalists from the Los Angeles Times reporting on the comments as “buffoons” and again pushed back on the characterisation of the comments by Newsom and others.

“He was saying the US is fighting to STOP Iran from having the ability to take out LA and San Diego with a nuclear weapon — which they would if they had the chance,” the account added.

San Diego, located 17 miles (27km) from the border with Mexico, is the eighth largest city in the US and is home to Naval Base San Diego, the home port of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, and Naval Amphibious Base Coronado – the main training centre Navy Seals on the West Coast.

It is also where Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is located, a base which 70,000 service members and civilians work at.

Located approximately 120 miles (193 KM) north of San Diego, Los Angeles is the second most populous city in the US.

It is home to the space system command headquarters of the US Space Force, as well as the Los Angeles Air Force Base.