Page A10From§Eachthe sunrise edition — 7 October 2026
As it ran on the front
I wrote this down. The notebook again — I know. September 8th: James Carville tells Al Hunt that Trump wants his own party to lose the midterms this year, that he wants to torture them. September 14th: Current Affairs asks why Democrats have given up the fight for impeachment while the President's conduct gets worse by the week. September 17th: Ralph Nader calls them feeble, weak, cowardly for it. September 27th: Common Dreams asks whether, if Democrats win back the House, they'll even bring the question to a vote. October 6th: Carville tells the New York Post not to do it anyway. That was the page I had open this morning.
Then I turned the page and the ink changed color.…
…(cont) August 31st: the President posts an AI-generated video showing American forces bombing Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export terminal. Common Dreams runs the headline with one word on him, not the footage — deranged. I want to be careful about that distinction, because it turns out to matter later. September 1st: the actual bombing campaign against Iran restarts, and Trump posts that if Iran retaliates, it gets hit "at a much harder and higher level" — the biggest attack of them all, in his words.
October 6th: he says the quiet part out loud about his own country. Iran, he suggests, could "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego. Gavin Newsom calls it deranged — the same word, this time landing on something he actually said, not a video he posted. Angelenos wake up to it on their phones in a record heat wave. San Diego, a city carrying multiple naval bases, calls the remark a disservice to the people stationed there.
October 7th: the White House does not walk it back. It stands behind him, telling the BBC he was warning about the danger of a nuclear Iran — their description of his words, not a quote of his own. Jimmy Kimmel, on his show, says he's going to report the President to the FCC. I don't know what that filing does once it's filed.
That's the number I'm watching now.
“They call a threat to bomb Los Angeles and San Diego a sober warning, and the only institution that moved on it by Tuesday night was a basic cable comedy show threatening to call the FCC. Congress has not taken a vote on anything happening with Iran since the bombing restarted in September. That is who is actually providing oversight right now, and it is not reassuring.”
“He was warning about the danger of a nuclear Iran, which, if you think it through, means saying "take out Los Angeles" out loud so the warning lands — hold on, did I just defend him saying that part out loud? That's not — that's not the line I meant to walk.”
Earlier in this story
The receipts
"I'll meet with Putin. I'll meet with Zelensky... And within 24 hours, that war will be settled" - Trump, CNN town hall, 10 May 2023. CNN counted 53 separate occasions he promised it CNN fact check, 25 April 2025 (all 53 instances)
White House defends Trump's comment to let Iran "take out" Los Angeles and San DiegoThe White House is defending President Trump after he suggested letting Iran "take out" Los Angeles and San Diego. CBS News' Nikole Killion has more.
As Angelenos bemoan ‘sad situation’, those in San Diego say remark a ‘disservice’ to town with multiple naval bases Donald Trump’s extraordinary implication that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego have sparked condemnation across the political spectrum. As residents of the two major west coast cities awoke on Tuesday to…
“You know what? I’m going to report him to the F.C.C.,” Kimmel said.
Gavin Newsom called the remarks "deranged", but the White House said Trump was warning of the risk of a nuclear Iran.
· Trump denies Axios report that he offered Iran sanctions relief from the morgue, 29 Sep 2026
· Trump Issues New Mass Murder Threat, Warning Iran of 'Biggest Attack of Them All' from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026
· 'The President of the United States Is Mentally Unwell': Deranged Trump Posts AI Slop of Iran Bombing from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.