Trump threatens to jail journalist over Iran rescue operation leaks
Donald Trump says the journalist who refuse to reveal sources for reports on the rescue of a US airman in Iran will be jailed.
US President Donald Trump has said he would demand that the journalist who first reported that an airman in Iran had been rescued reveal how he got that information and threatened to jail him if he refused.
The president has privately complained to aides that media coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran has been too negative.
After a US fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, several media outlets reported that one of the two airmen onboard had been successfully recovered.
Trump has stated the disclosure threatened the security of the ongoing operation to rescue the second airman, though that officer was eventually 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.
Threat to media
"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.'"
It was not clear which media outlet or reporter Trump was referring to.
Several outlets, including The New York Times, CBS News, and Axios, reported on the rescue.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has posted on X that broadcasters who air "fake news" now have a chance to "correct course before their licence renewals come up."
This followed a post from Trump claiming that "Lowlife 'Papers' and Media actually want us to lose the War."