Let them

It turns out people in LA and San Diego don’t much like it when Trump tells Iran to take those cities out.

California leaders condemned President Trump on Monday night after he appeared to suggest that Iran could “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego if it develops a nuclear weapon.

Speaking at a Republican political rally in Nebraska, the president sought to justify the Iran war as necessary for “keeping the world safe.” He then suggested there could be strikes on the United States, including the Democratic-led Californian cities.

“They could take out a city,” he said. “Let them take — Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.”

It was not immediately clear what Mr. Trump meant, but his comments were met with anger from officials in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the president “deranged and dangerous.”

I blame the subjunctive. The only way it can possibly be unclear what Trump meant is if you’re taking into account the possibility that he was using the present subjunctive there – let them take out as is let them eat cake. Qu’ils mangent de la brioche. The present subjunctive is rarely used in modern English (especially by people like Trump who have somewhat meagre language skills) – it uses “let” not in the everyday sense as in “Oh let him have it, he’ll never shut up unless you do” but in that other, weird sense that is the present subjunctive. See also “May her memory be a blessing”.

Trump of course wasn’t using it that way, but then he wasn’t really using it the more familiar way, either, because who is the agent here? Who is doing this letting? Why is he telling us to let them take out LA and SD? Surely that’s his job, not ours. Really he should have said “I hereby give them permission to take out Los Angeles and/or San Diego.”

“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,” Mr. Newsom posted on social media.

Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego wrote on social media that his city was not “collateral damage” and not “expendable.”

“Keep our city out of your reckless war talk,” he added.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass said that the president’s 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 in a social media statement.

Well, yes, you’d think so. FDR didn’t invite Hitler to take out New York and DC. But hey, autres temps, autres mœurs.