President Trump on Wednesday told a roaring crowd of supporters in Arizona that government leakers who hand military attack plans to the press “ought to go to jail and be shot.”
He described the people who engage in such behavior as “sleaze-bags” and “the scum of the earth.”
Trump specifically blamed an unnamed leaker for revealing U.S. bombers' departure and arrival time ahead of the June 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites — Operation Midnight Hammer — saying the disclosure appeared in the New York Times and on CNN, forcing a two-day delay.
“Somebody leaked, some sleazebag. They ought to go to jail and be shot. For the rest of their life, they should be in jail,” the president said. “They leaked that we were leaving at 12:07 from Missouri, and it was in The New York Times, CNN. They leaked the time that we were leaving, the time that we were arriving.”
“In my opinion, leakers should be shot. In the old days, we used to shoot leakers,” he added. “When they leak what time you’re going to attack a country, and the reason you’re attacking is really for defense because you don’t want them to have a weapon that can blow up millions of people in one shot.”
President Trump claims that there was a leak on a raid that was in "The New York Times, CNN" and says, "my opinion, leakers should be shot." https://t.co/qYyEH3wi9i
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 14, 2026
President Trump, still clearly upset over the leak of information for Operation Midnight Hammer, suggested reporters who run with such ill-gotten information are "almost as bad as a leaker."
“They leak false information. That makes them a leaker,” he said. “Oftentimes, without a source. I think they make up a lot of their sources.”
Operation Midnight Hammer completely shelled Iranian forces at the time, with B-2 stealth bombers taking out key nuclear facilities without facing any return fire. It was a massive tactical hit that severely crippled the country's nuclear program in one swift move.
Media reports then ran with leaked Defense Intelligence Agency assessments of the damage caused by the strikes after the operation.
moments after saying leakers should be shot, Trump points at reporters covering his rally and says "they're almost as bad as a leaker" https://t.co/9ApYYf37gY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 14, 2026
The president has long railed against leakers and reporters, whom he has referred to as the "enemy of the people," for running blindly with stories provided by these sources.
He was particularly irate when media outlets began reporting on two airmen who were missing in Iran after being shot down in April. Trump at the time said they were investigating the leak and trying to identify the source.
“We think we’ll be able to find it out,” he said. “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.’”