@RichardGrenell If my 5th grade teacher asked me to diagram the syntax of what Trump said, the parenthetical "let them take out LA, let them take out San Diego", would be subordinate clause of "a small price to pay" and "a small price to pay" is a modifier of "the war with Iran." Does that help?
@SDePace In the end, it really doesn't matter how US Media media outlets portray Trump's comments. What matters is how Iran interprets Trump's comments. Do they think he was joking? Or was he giving them the go ahead?