Jack White Calls Trump 'Worst American of All Time' Over L.A. Comment

Trump told a Nebraska rally Iran could 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego; the White House says he was misread.

Jack White had a question Tuesday for the Republicans of Los Angeles and San Diego, and he asked it on Instagram. "Hey republicans and conservatives that live in L.A. and San Diego; how do you feel about your Fuhrer recommending that the cities you live in get attacked?" the White Stripes frontman wrote in a post Variety reported.

He was answering a line President Trump delivered Monday at a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, about Iran, the country the U.S. is at war with. White signed off by calling Trump "The Worst American of All Time," hashtag included.

So here's what Trump said. He was defending the war, and Variety reported he'd told the crowd that higher prices caused by the fighting were worth it to keep the country and the world safe. Then came the passage TheWrap transcribed:

"They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay."

He didn't circle back to the cities. He moved on to the war's end, saying it was almost over, that it might drag a little longer, that Iran is known for its high tolerance for pain and that the conflict would finish either way.

White's post told people to listen to the audience applaud, and he guessed the defense in advance: it was a joke, or a way of owning the libs. The White House picked a different one. Its Rapid Response 47 account called the critics buffoons on X and said Trump meant the U.S. is fighting so Iran never gets a nuclear weapon that could hit L.A. and San Diego, one it said Iran would use given the chance, TheWrap reported.

California officials answered Trump directly. Gov. Gavin Newsom called Trump deranged and dangerous on X and asked where Congress was, and his press office put the population of the two cities at more than 10 million. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told Trump on X to keep L.A. out of his mouth, with a stronger word in the middle. Sen. Alex Padilla said on X that at least 19 service members have died in the war.

White is a regular in this fight. In August 2025 he called Trump a danger to the entire world, and in February he mocked the president's "Board of Peace" title by suggesting he make his next war announcement with his feet on the Resolute desk, a Big Mac in hand and a velvet tracksuit on. Those posts were about Trump. This one went at Trump's own voters in the two cities he named.

Jimmy Kimmel got to the remark in his monologue that same night. Kimmel, who faced calls in April to be pulled off the air over a joke about Melania Trump, told viewers he'd report the president to the FCC, then went after the same it-was-a-joke defense White had predicted. "Now it's a joke, before it was not a joke," Kimmel said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Source: Variety, retrieved October 7, 2026. Other sources: TheWrap, TheWrap (2).