President Donald Trump vowed on Monday, April 6, 2026, to identify the "sick" government leaker who revealed that a second U.S. airman remained missing after an F-15E crash in Iran, arguing that the disclosure alerted Iranian forces and endangered the rescue operation.
Trump threatened to jail journalists who refuse to reveal their sources, stating his administration will confront media companies with the ultimatum: "give it up or go to jail" under national security grounds. The leak reportedly occurred shortly after the first pilot was rescued, leading the Iranian regime to place a bounty on the missing Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) and deploy millions of personnel to find him.
The Incident: A leak revealed that while one airman was rescued, a second remained unaccounted for, prompting a massive 155-aircraft rescue mission that lasted nearly 48 hours in mountainous terrain. The Threat: The President explicitly named the act of leaking as "sick" and claimed the information allowed Iran to know a pilot was "fighting for his life" before the rescue. Media Targets: Outlets such as CBS News, The New York Times, and CNN reported on the dual rescue efforts, though Trump did not specify which media company he believes holds the source. Legal Context: While shield laws protect journalists in many jurisdictions, there are no federal protections for publishing classified information, allowing the Justice Department to pursue leakers and reporters. AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
Put them all in jail.
Hell no.
Jail costs taxpayers $60k+ a year. That's money stolen from you and me.
This is treason. Execution is the solution for the main offenders and kicking others out of the country and revoking their citizenship for the rest.
Maybe we could take them to Iran and drop them off and alert the Iranians there's an American there somewhere with broken legs from being pushed out of our helicopter. Shouldn't be too hard to catch!
I hope it surprises a bunch of people not just us.
Oh, NOW he cites national security concerns. It was a concern a very long time ago, with these media twats. You know we are in 5D chess when he hasn't even touched or mentioned the Smith-Mundt act. He had the authority many years ago to address this. This is getting good i must say.
He says that to bring the normies into the fold. Remember, most of them get their news from the NY media, fakebook, and twitter. Gotta reel them in slow
Yup.
"Think mirror." One can bet the good guys are leveraging the Smith-Mundt Act while it's still legal to do so -- 5GW
Even though I know it could very well be a republican - please be a high ranking democrat member of congress, please be a high ranking democrat member of congress
I'd almost rather it be a Republican, just to show that Trump is non-partisan when he hangs the bastard.
Good point - whoever it is I hope they are arrested and prosecuted.
Hopefully its Jumanji Jackson…
Don Lemon? 🤣🤣🤣
My money is on Kelly, Warren, & Blumenthal
They should be hung
I don't think Trump will let this slide.
I find it hard to believe that the CIA wouldn’t be able to find the communication links to the journalist and the leaker. We were told in the press conference yesterday that they found the missing pilot “like finding a grain of sand in the desert”.
I don't believe even "journalists" have the right to commit treason.
And they definitely shouldn't have the ability to commit it more than once, if you catch my drift.