U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said it is “past time to invoke the 25th Amendment” on Tuesday night, after President Donald Trump said at a rally that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego. In an X post, the New Mexico Democrat called the remarks “absolutely disgusting and abhorrent” and asked whether Republicans in Congress would “find the courage” to act. The post places the president’s comments inside a longer list of American losses in the Iran war, which began on Feb. 28.
The Full Post
Stansbury posted her statement at 10:20 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2026. It reads in full:
-U.S. Service Members killed.
-Hundreds wounded.
-Thousands of civilians dead.
-Millions of Americans suffering from the cost of food, gas and inflation from this illegal war in Iran.
And, now he’s making flip comments about them taking out two American cities. What is wrong with this man? Absolutely disgusting and abhorrent.
It’s past time to invoke the 25th Amendment. The question is will our Republican colleagues find the courage to do so?
What Trump Said in Nebraska
Stansbury was responding to remarks Trump made Monday at a Republican political rally in Nebraska. There he defended the war as necessary for the nation’s security. “It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” Trump said. “They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego.”
Parts of the crowd cheered when he named the two California cities. It was not immediately clear what Trump meant, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He also told the crowd the war was “going to end very soon” but gave no details on how. Last week he turned down Iran’s latest cease-fire proposal, which would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and restarted talks on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for U.S. concessions.
California Officials Respond
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the remarks “deranged and dangerous.” “After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego,” he wrote on social media. The next morning Newsom described the statement as “dangerous — if not treasonous.” He said he had directed the California State Threat Assessment Center to “monitor the situation in the event that foreign actors interpret the remarks as an invitation” to target the state.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wrote that his city was not “collateral damage” and not “expendable.” “Keep our city out of your reckless war talk,” he added. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the comments were “dangerous” and could “potentially compromise” the city’s safety. “The role of a president is to protect the country, not to actively threaten it and encourage attacks on American lives,” she said.
The White House Pushes Back
The White House rejected that reading of the remarks. Communications Director Stephen Cheung described the reaction as a “media freakout” that was “not rooted in reality.” “He was clearly stating US cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped,” Cheung wrote on X. “America is safer because of the President. Iran has no nuclear, no navy, no air force, and no money.”
The official White House rapid response account wrote that the president “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.”
A Record of Opposition to the War
Tuesday’s post is the latest in a string of statements from Stansbury on the conflict. On March 5, days after the war began, she announced on her official House website that she had voted “YES” on a War Powers Resolution to stop the use of military force without congressional approval. “The Constitution is clear—only Congress has the power to declare war,” she said. She called the strikes “reckless, unlawful, and unauthorized” and said they had already cost the lives of six American service members and more than 200 civilians. “This war is a betrayal—as countless Americans are struggling to put a roof over their heads and food on the table,” she added.
In the same statement she said she left a classified briefing by Secretaries Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio “with more questions than answers.” She said the administration had provided “no clear justification for strikes, no identification of an imminent threat” and no plan for stabilizing the region afterward.
Earlier Calls to Remove the President
Stansbury has called for Trump’s removal before. After Trump wrote on Easter Sunday that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” she was among the Democratic lawmakers urging Congress and the Cabinet to act. Days later, after Trump posted that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” she said in a video that his statements were “unbefitting a president” and amounted to threats under international law. She argued that such conduct is exactly why the 25th Amendment and impeachment exist.
How the 25th Amendment Works
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” The vice president then immediately assumes the powers of the presidency. Congress has no role in starting that process, which is why Stansbury’s post addresses “our Republican colleagues” rather than her own party’s caucus. Calls to use the provision have surfaced in earlier presidencies, but it has never been invoked over a president’s objection.
Congress Moves on the War
Congress has also acted against the war through the War Powers Resolution. On June 3, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the House’s passage of his resolution “a significant bipartisan rebuke.” On June 23, the Senate passed it 50-48. Because it passed both chambers as a concurrent resolution, it does not go to the president’s desk. Meeks said it “is binding on the president” under the War Powers Resolution and directs him to cease hostilities against Iran. “Congress never authorized this failed war,” he said.
The Toll of the War
The figures Stansbury cites have grown since the conflict began. Meeks said in June that the war had cost 14 U.S. service members their lives. He also said Americans were paying 50 percent more at the gas pump since the war began. Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) said in an official statement that the Acting Pentagon Comptroller had told the House Armed Services Committee the war had already cost taxpayers $29 billion.
Why the Two Cities Matter
Both cities host major U.S. military installations. San Diego, the eighth-largest city in the country, is home to Naval Base San Diego, the home port of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. It also hosts Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, the main West Coast training center for Navy SEALs, and sits near Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where about 70,000 service members and civilians work. Los Angeles, the second most populous U.S. city, is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command and Los Angeles Air Force Base.
The Political Fallout in California
The remarks also reached a competitive House race. Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor endorsed by Trump in California’s 48th Congressional District, said he “vehemently” disagreed. “No American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage,” he wrote. His Democratic opponent, San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, called it “indefensible” that Desmond “continues to support Trump’s war” and is backed by a president who “jokes about the 1.4 million people in San Diego being ‘taken out’ by a foreign adversary.”
What Comes Next
Stansbury’s question remains unanswered: whether any Republican in Congress or any member of the Cabinet will act. Trump has not responded to the statements from California officials. The 25th Amendment requires a majority of the Cabinet to act, and no member has publicly signaled support for invoking it. With the war now in its eighth month, the post shows how Democrats are tying the president’s rhetoric to the war’s costs as the midterm elections approach.