The remark was surprising because it appeared to frame major American cities — both home to major military installations — as acceptable losses, and because backlash crossed party lines. According to Al Jazeera, Republican Jim Desmond, running for California's 48th congressional district, said "no American city is expendable, and no American family should ever be treated as collateral damage," while Representative Kevin Kiley called the comments "unhelpful." A sitting president suggesting enemy fire could strike two US cities drew cheers rather than alarm at the rally itself.

California Governor Gavin Newsom called the remarks "deranged and dangerous" — and, in a video on X, "not only madness" but "dangerous" — and directed California's State Threat Assessment Center to monitor for foreign actors who might interpret the remarks as an invitation, the BBC reports. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it a threat, and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria demanded Trump keep his city out of "reckless war talk." White House communications director Steven Cheung dismissed a "media freakout" as "not rooted in reality," insisting Trump was saying US cities would have been threatened had a nuclear Iran not been stopped.

Truthout reports that Trump conceded to reporters it is "possible" the war on Iran could drag Republicans down in the midterms, while claiming it "should help" and blaming media framing for negative views. Citing an Economist/YouGov survey from last month, Truthout says 63 percent of Americans want the war to end as soon as possible, with only 15 percent disagreeing, and that March polling showed 56 percent opposed at the war's start. Trump, per Truthout, broke an initial pledge that the war would last weeks rather than months, and has floated possibly seeking to "annihilate" Iran in a Time interview.