STORY: :: Trump threatens jail for the reporter who revealed Iran airman rescue
:: It was not clear which media outlet or reporter Trump was referring to
:: April 6, 2026
"But these two extraordinary rescues, because it was two. And as you probably know, we didn't talk about the first one for an hour and then somebody leaked something, which we'll hopefully find that leaker. We're looking very hard to find that leaker, and talk about there's somebody missing. They basically said that we have one and there's somebody missing. Well, they didn't know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information. So whoever that was, we think we'll be able to find it out because we're going to go to the media company that released it, and we're going to say, national security, give it up or go to jail. // "Because when they did that, all of a sudden the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life."
Trump's remarks at a White House press conference represented a significant escalation of the administration's attacks on the press. The president has privately complained to aides in recent weeks that media coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has been too negative, and Trump and his allies have publicly criticized some news organizations' coverage.
After a U.S. fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, several media outlets reported that one of the two airmen onboard had been successfully recovered by U.S. rescue forces.
Trump said the disclosure had threatened the security of the ongoing operation to rescue the second airman, though that airman was eventually successfully recovered.
