\n<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump said Monday that a \u201csick person\u201d leaked information about the downed U.S. fighter jet to media outlets and threatened jail time for reporters if they don\u2019t reveal the leaker\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
Trump said the U.S. mission to rescue one of the American airmen who went down in Iran was placed \u201cat great risk\u201d because of the leak and the ensuing media reports. The Iranian regime placed a bounty on the missing U.S. F-15 fighter weapons systems officer, who was forced to hide in a mountain crevice for nearly two days as armed Iranians searched for the American.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking very hard to find that leaker,\u201d Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room, adding, \u201cWhoever it was, we think we\u2019ll be able to find it out because we\u2019re going to go to the media company that released it and we\u2019re going to say, \u2018National security, give it up or go to jail.’\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome things you can\u2019t do 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,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd it also made it much more difficult for the pilots and for the people going in to search for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nPresident Trump vows to hunt down leaker who put rescue mission \u2018at great risk\u2019 pic.twitter.com\/RyJ7Smlgv2<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) April 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Trump did not say to which outlet the administration believes the leaker sent the sensitive information. The New York Times and CNN were among the first outlets to report that one of the two U.S. pilots was rescued while a search and rescue operation had begun for the missing pilot. In its first report on the unfolding rescue operation, The New York Times cited<\/a> \u201cU.S. and Israeli\u201d officials, and CNN cited three \u201cU.S. sources\u201d in its initial report<\/a> on the missing pilot.<\/p>\n
Journalists who publish sensitive or even classified information are protected in many states and in Washington, D.C., under shield laws, provided they obtained the material without coercion and did not ask anyone to break the law. However, there are no federal protections for publishing classified information.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has sought to crack down on leakers within the federal government and prevent reporters from publishing classified information. The Justice Department was recently blocked<\/a> by a federal judge from searching the devices of a Washington Post reporter as federal investigators looked into a government contractor who was accused of leaking classified government materials.<\/p>\n
The second airman, who was badly injured, was rescued early on Sunday as U.S. forces carried out a dangerous mission inside Iran. Trump described<\/a> the rescue mission as a \u201cmassive operation\u201d that involved 155 aircraft, including bombers, fighter jets, refueling tankers, and rescue units. After confirming the weapons systems officer\u2019s location, U.S. troops engaged with enemy forces and extracted the airman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n