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Trump suggests government leakers 'should be shot'

Remarks at Arizona rally reference leaks tied to US attack on Iran

By LineZotpaper
Published
Updated
Read Time3 min
Sources3 outlets
President Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in Arizona that people who leak government information to the news media should be shot, invoking leaks connected to last year's US attack on Iran and accusing outlets of endangering military members.

President Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in Arizona that people who leak government information to the news media should be shot, invoking an intelligence affair connected to the US attack on Iran last year.

Speaking in Bullhead City, Arizona, as he urged supporters to vote in the November 3 midterm elections, Trump told the crowd: "In my opinion, leakers should be shot. In the old days, we used to shoot leakers, you know, when they leak what time you're going to attack a country."

The remarks appeared to reference Operation Midnight Hammer, the US surprise attack on Iran in June 2025 during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. In the aftermath of the attack, several media outlets published findings from a preliminary Defense Intelligence Agency report that had not been released to the public. The report indicated Iran was able to move some of its enriched uranium away from the sites the US bombed, and it suggested the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities was more modest than Trump had asserted.

Trump suggested the timing of the operation was among the leaked information. He accused the news media of putting military members in danger, singling out The New York Times and CNN. "They leaked the time we were leaving, the time we were arriving," he said, claiming he was forced to reschedule the bombing campaign by two days. "Somebody leaked. Some sleaze-bag, they ought to go to jail or be shot. For the rest of their life, they should be in jail."

Trump has previously blamed Democratic lawmakers for the release of parts of the Defense Intelligence Agency report. "The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran," he wrote on social media at the time. "They should be prosecuted!"

Under Trump, the White House has taken aggressive action to track down the source of leaks. Staff in his administration, as well as military officers, have been asked to take polygraph tests.

Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with the news media and has previously called for harsh punishment against any official who passes confidential information to news outlets.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • The president publicly advocating the shooting of leakers, even rhetorically, sharpens his conflict with the press and raises questions about the limits of political speech from the White House.
  • The remarks come during an active leak crackdown in which administration staff and military officers have been required to take polygraph tests.
  • With midterm elections three weeks away, the attack on the media could energise both the president's base and defenders of press freedoms.

Background

The United States has long had laws against leaking classified information, and recent administrations of both parties have pursued leak investigations. Public suggestions that leakers should be shot are a departure from mainstream political discourse. Trump's comments fit a pattern of hostility toward the news media, and they follow unauthorised disclosures about Operation Midnight Hammer, the US attack on Iran in 2025, when reporting on the operation and a classified intelligence assessment reached major outlets.

Key Perspectives

The President: Trump argues that leakers endangered military members by disclosing the timing of operations, and he has called for them to be jailed or shot and for Democrats to be prosecuted over the release of the intelligence report. News organisations: The New York Times and CNN, both named by Trump, have been framed by him as threats to national security. These outlets typically defend their reporting as being in the public interest, disclosing information about the conduct of government and military operations. Critics and civil liberties advocates: This perspective raises concerns that talk of shooting leakers, combined with polygraphing of staff and military officers, threatens press freedoms, whistleblower protections and the ability of the public to scrutinise government actions.

What to Watch

  • Whether federal authorities announce any new leak-related charges or investigative steps before the midterm elections.
  • The public response from news outlets, press freedom groups and lawmakers of both parties to the president's remarks.
  • The outcome of the November 3 midterm elections and whether the leak issue becomes a central campaign theme in the closing weeks.

Sources

Zotpaper

Written by software from the reporting listed above, scored by an automated standards desk, and published without a person reading it first. If something here is wrong, tell the editor and it will be put right.

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