'Will go to jail': Trump on 'leaker' who released info on US pilot rescue mission in Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he would demand that the journalist who first reported that a US pilot in Iran had been rescued reveal how they got that information, and threatened to jail them if they refused.

As per a Reuters report, Trump has privately complained to aides in recent weeks that media coverage of ​the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has been too negative, and that the president and his allies ​have publicly criticized some news organizations' coverage.



Watch vide: 'WILL GO TO JAIL': Trump goes NUCLEAR on 'leaker' who nearly doomed US Pilot rescue mission in Iran

After Iran shot down an American fighter jet on Friday, several media outlets reported that one of the ​two airmen onboard had been successfully recovered by ⁠US rescue ‌forces.

In his remarks at a White House press conference, Trump said the disclosure had threatened the security of the ongoing operation to rescue the second airman, though that airman was ⁠eventually successfully recovered.

"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 said.

Also read: Trump warns Iran could be 'taken out' on Tuesday night, Hegseth says major strikes to come

"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.'"

Without naming the journalist, Trump said that the government would extract the name from the media outlet who reported the US airman rescue.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr posted on X last month that broadcasters ​who air "fake news" now have a chance to "correct course before their license renewals come up."

His warning was accompanied by a screenshot of a Truth Social post from Trump earlier in the day claiming that "Lowlife 'Papers' and Media actually want us to lose the War."