Author: rb809rb

Claim:

While speaking about the Iran war on Oct. 5, U.S. President Donald Trump said, “They [Iran] can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over with very soon.”

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Context

Trump said these words during an unscripted, tangential portion of a speech he gave at a Nebraska political rally. Many people, including high-level Democratic politicians and pundits, appeared to interpret him as saying the destruction of two large California cities would be a small price to pay for ending the war. White House spokesperson Steven Cheung replied on X that, on the contrary, Trump “was clearly stating U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped.”

On Oct. 5, a rumor circulated online that, while speaking at a rally, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran could “take out” Los Angeles or San Diego and that it would be a “very small price to pay” amid the war on Iran.

The joint U.S.-Israel military operation has killed thousands of Iranians, beginning with the assassination of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, on Feb. 28, 2026. According to an October poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 28% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling Iran, as the cost of gas and groceries continued to soar.

“Trump on Iran: Let ’em take out Los Angeles and San Diego, it’s a small price to pay,” one X post showing a video of Trump speaking was captioned (archived). It had more than 15 million views.

The video was authentic, and the quote was correctly attributed to Trump. While speaking about economic sacrifices during the war at a Nebraska rally on Oct. 5, Trump said (at 1:47:01):

I want to see a tremendous victory. You want to see a tremendous victory ’cause it verifies all the things we did. And again, remember, with the war it’s just artificial. It’s a little bit high, it’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay and it’s going to be over with very soon. It’s essentially almost over with and they might keep going a little long. You know, they always say they have a big threshold for pain — they need it, let me tell you, they need it. But it’s gonna end very soon and it’ll end one way or the other and your gas and your gasoline and all of the things.

California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Diego, denounced Trump’s comments. 

“After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California,” Newsom posted on X, “Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should ‘take out’ Los Angeles and San Diego. He is deranged and dangerous.”

We sought comment from the White House, which directed us to a statement on X (archived) by spokesperson Steven Cheung. Cheung wrote that Trump was “clearly” stating that “U.S. cities would have been threatened if a nuclear Iran hadn’t been stopped.“

It was unclear what Trump was referring to when he made the comment about “a small price to pay” and the White House’s response didn’t provide further context.

For further reading, we’ve verified numerous authentic Trump quotes, including that he said the Iran war was “small potatoes” and that when speaking about Iran negotiations, he said, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”

Sources

Claim:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals euthanized approximately 67% of the animals that it took in during the year 2024.

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According to data provided by the state of Virginia, where the U.S. branch of PETA is headquartered, the figure is correct. The specific figure, according to Snopes’ own calculation of the data provided, is 66.7%. A spokesperson for PETA said via email that the statistics reflect it being the last shelter in its area to provide “free end-of-life services” for suffering animals, resulting in a high number of referrals from other shelters and vet clinics.

In October 2026, a rumor circulated online that animal welfare nonprofit organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals put down 67% of the animals it took in during the year 2024. 

Social media users claimed that PETA euthanized 2,213 out of the 3,317 animals it took in that year.

The assertion appears to have originated from a popular Facebook page called Rack Junkies that focuses on hunting and fishing.

In short, the claim is true, according to data provided by the state of Virginia, where the organization is headquartered. 

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ database of animal custody record reports for PETA in the year 2024 shows a total of 3,317 companion animals taken in, including 1,374 dogs and 1,885 cats. Of the total number, the data shows 2,709 of the animals were classified as “surrendered by owner.” 

Of those 3,317 animals, 2,213 were euthanized, making the percentage of animals euthanized by PETA that year 66.7% (which rounds up to 67%). 

Among the companion animals euthanized, 875 were dogs (63.7% of dogs taken in) and 1,299 were cats (68.9% of cats taken in). A separate figure for wildlife taken in throughout 2024 shows that 32 of 38 wild animals were euthanized (84.2%). 

According to PETA’s explanatory notes, also available in the report, the organization’s shelter is “the last in the region to still provide free end-of-life services” and that “dozens of Virginians were referred to PETA for end-of-life help” for animals by most of the area’s shelters and veterinary clinics, which the nonprofit says had a “significant impact” on the statistics.

The notes also say the euthanized wildlife animals “were critically injured/dying.”

(Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services)

A spokesperson for PETA said via email that the organization is appreciative for “the opportunity to respond even though it’s to a social media post that deliberately misrepresents PETA’s work and is written by a man who makes a hobby and career of killing animals, which is what PETA works against every day,” referencing Rack Junkies’ hunting content.

Snopes contacted Stephen Ziegler — whose name is in the biography of the Rack Junkies Facebook account — for a response to the PETA spokesperson’s comments. We will update this article if we receive a reply.

The spokesperson provided several examples of nearby pet owners and their companions who were referred to PETA for euthanasia, calling this “a small fraction” of cases. The spokesperson wrote: 

PETA’s services also span 260 localities across Virginia and North Carolina. So naturally, our intake—and by extension our euthanasia figures—will be higher than shelters that serve only their specific locality, because we are assisting exponentially more animals, including those from communities far beyond Norfolk’s borders.

PETA’s spokesperson reiterated the same points seen in the explanatory notes and added, “While other shelters in and around PETA’s headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, have adopted restrictive ‘no-kill’ policies aimed at keeping animals out of their shelters and often turn away animals, PETA takes in all comers without discrimination, without admission fees, appointments, waiting lists, or other obstacles.”

PETA’s intake policy notes that its “shelter does not have a waiting list or charge a surrender fee, and our staff is available 24/7, including to respond to after-hours emergencies and pick up and transport surrendered animals. We often take in aggressive or feral animals rejected by other shelters as unadoptable.”

The policy further states that some of the “dangerous” canines who were euthanized had been previously adopted out by other shelters that later declined to take them back “when families attempted to return them due to aggression” and that “more than 100 behaviorally unsound, ailing, and even actively dying animals were referred to PETA by area shelters and veterinary clinics.”

In 2012, PETA was the subject of an expose from news magazine The Atlantic, titled, “PETA’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad History of Killing Animals.” That article says that in 2011, the nonprofit’s adoption rate was only “2.5 percent for dogs and 0.4 for cats.” 

A spokesperson for PETA reportedly told the outlet that “euthanasia is a product of love for animals who have no one to love them” and that animals sometimes “need the comfort of being put out of their misery.”

Snopes has previously unpacked similar claims against PETA, including its founder’s previous comments on animal euthanasia and reports of PETA workers stealing family pets and euthanizing them.  

Claim:

Video from a political rally authentically shows U.S. President Donald Trump saying he has an IQ of 1,775.

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The clip as presented in some social media posts lacked context that made it clear Trump was not referring to his IQ when he mentioned the number 1,775 during a campaign rally speech. Rather, he was speaking about the “warrior dividend” his administration promised U.S. service members.

In early October, a claim (archived) circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump said his IQ was 1,775.

IQ, or intelligence quotient, is a measure of a person’s relative intelligence. There are many different tests for IQ that usually assign the taker a number score. An IQ score of 1,775 would be remarkable, given that the Guinness World Records holder for highest IQ held a score of 228 before Guinness retired the record in 1990. 

One Facebook user who shared the claim included a clip of Trump saying: 

I’m a high-IQ person, unlike some other people I can tell you about. Very, the, among the highest IQs anywhere in the world, 1,775. And I said, you know, if we can scrap up $1 more we’ll be at 1,776, and that’s what we did.

The Facebook user captioned the video “Trump thinks his IQ is 1775.”

The clip of Trump speaking and his purported claim about his intelligence also circulated on X (archived) and Instagram (archived). Snopes readers contacted us, asking whether Trump really claimed his IQ was 1,775.

Trump did not claim to have an IQ of 1,775. Social media users appeared to misrepresent a portion of the president’s campaign rally appearance in Vandalia, Ohio, on Oct. 3, where he talked about the $1,776 “warrior dividend” his administration promised U.S. service members in December 2025.

The clip was authentic, meaning not generated with artificially intelligence or otherwise edited; Trump did say he had a “very high” IQ and that it was “among the highest IQ’s anywhere in the world,” immediately followed by saying “1,775.” However, the number referred to the amount federal officials initially suggested for the warrior dividend, not Trump’s IQ. This was clear when watching that section of Trump’s speech in full. 

Therefore, we find social media users miscaptioned authentic footage.

Speaking in Vandalia on Oct. 3, Trump said (at 2:17:38, emphasis ours, archived)

And remember just recently, I, just to give you an example, just recently, I gave all members of the military $1,776. And everyone said that couldn’t be done and I did it. And you know, Bernie, that, when they put the number I said, “What would be the right amount? What would be something we can afford for our great military?” They came back with 1,775 and they put it on my desk. “Sir, we can do 1,7—” Can you believe this? “We can do 1,775.” they said. I said, “Wow.” Nobody saw it but me, I’m very proud of this, very intelligent. I’m a high-IQ person, unlike some other people I can tell you about. Very, the, among the highest IQ’s anywhere in the world, 1,775. And I said, you know, if we can scrap up $1 more we’ll be at 1,776, and that’s what we did, 1,776.

Considering the full context of Trump’s speech, it was obvious he was not referring to his IQ when he said the number 1,775.

Though Trump often calls himself a “high-IQ individual” (in fact, he did so while telling the same story at a rally on Sept. 16) his actual IQ is unconfirmed. Snopes has previously debunked rumors that he scored 73 on an IQ test during his time at the New York Military Academy as well as an article claiming the president’s IQ was 156.