President Donald Trump announced Monday that he plans to force the journalist who initially covered the rescue of a U.S. airman in Iran to disclose their source, warning of imprisonment for those who decline to cooperate.
During a White House press briefing, Trump’s comments marked a notable intensification in his administration’s confrontational approach toward news media. Sources close to the president indicate he has expressed frustration in recent weeks over what he perceives as overly critical reporting on the U.S.-Israeli military conflict with Iran.
The controversy stems from Friday’s incident when Iranian forces downed an American fighter aircraft. Multiple news organizations subsequently reported that rescue teams had successfully retrieved one of the two crew members aboard the downed plane.
According to Trump, revealing details about the first airman’s rescue compromised the safety of efforts to locate and extract the remaining pilot, who was later brought to safety.
“We didn’t talk about the first one for an hour. Then somebody leaked something, which, we will hopefully find that leaker. We’re looking very hard to find that leaker,” Trump stated during the briefing.
The president added: “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.’”
Trump did not specify which news organization or individual journalist would face his threatened action. Major outlets including The New York Times, CBS News, and Axios all published reports about the airman’s rescue within a similar timeframe.
White House officials have not provided clarification when pressed about which specific reporter the president was targeting with his threats.
Adding to the administration’s media criticism, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr recently posted on social media platform X suggesting that television stations broadcasting what he termed “fake news” should “correct course before their license renewals come up.” His statement included a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post claiming that “Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media actually want us to lose the War.”
