{"id":58579,"date":"2026-04-06T13:35:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=58579"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:35:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:35:47","slug":"trump-threatens-to-jail-journalists-who-received-leak-about-us-pilot-downed-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/06\/trump-threatens-to-jail-journalists-who-received-leak-about-us-pilot-downed-in-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Threatens to Jail Journalists Who Received Leak About US Pilot Downed in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump vowed Monday to find the \u201cleaker\u201d who disclosed that US forces could not locate the second pilot stranded in Iran after their F-15 fighter jet was shot down, threatening to jail unnamed journalists who received the information if they do not reveal its source.<\/p>\n<p>Trump claimed that Iranian authorities did not know that a second pilot of the downed two-seat warplane was missing until after the news report, which made the US rescue mission \u201cmuch more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking very hard to find that leaker,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe 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 \u2013 give it up or go to jail.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mitrwrjgdy2u\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreih2ijqrud5lqjnsdzphjlbbdqdjirnau3lo2mrjyihc4bxarbpmya\">\n<p lang=\"en\">Trump: &#34;They didn&#39;t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information. Whoever it was, we think we&#39;ll be able to find out, because we&#39;re gonna go to the media company that released it and we&#39;re gonna say, &#39;National security. Give it up or go to jail.&#39;&#34;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc?ref_src=embed\">Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc\/post\/3mitrwrjgdy2u?ref_src=embed\">2026-04-06T17:27:00.881Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/static\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe country, Iran, put out a major notice&#8230; offering a very big award for anybody that captures the pilot,\u201d Trump continued. \u201cWe have to find that leaker, because that\u2019s a sick person. Probably didn\u2019t realize the extent of how bad it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to find out,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s national security, and the person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the president did not say which \u201cmedia company\u201d he was talking about, the first widely cited reporting about the missing second pilot was broadcast Friday by CNN, CBS News, and <em>The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Israel journalist Amit Segal \u2013 who has close high-level links to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu \u2013 claimed Monday on his Telegram channel that he was the first to publish information on the second pilot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are about to see Trump\u2019s promise to find and imprison whoever leaked the info about the second pilot vanish into the ether,\u201d US investigative journalist Ryan Grim <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ryangrim\/status\/2041215068390437274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> on social media Monday in response to Segal\u2019s post.<\/p>\n<p>Both pilots were successfully rescued. Some critics <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/handlemchandface.bsky.social\/post\/3mitryjmzas2b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mocked<\/a> Trump for presuming that Iranians would not know that the two-seat F-15 is crewed by multiple pilots.<\/p>\n<p>Since early in his first administration, Trump has <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2022\/11\/08\/trump-reportedly-seeking-tips-imprisoning-journalists-if-reelected-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">discussed<\/a> jailing journalists and political foes who leak or refuse to say who disclosed information. The president has also long denigrated journalists as the \u201cfake news media\u201d and the \u201cenemy of the people,\u201d sowing distrust of an entire profession that culminated in <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2021\/07\/03\/fbi-begins-arresting-people-accused-assaulting-journalists-capitol-january-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">physical attacks<\/a> on reporters during the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s threat comes as the president <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-war-crimes-iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> he is \u201cconsidering blowing everything up\u201d in Iran if the country\u2019s leaders don\u2019t reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday night. This, after Trump <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/vile-horrifying-evil-trump-threatens-to-bomb-nation-of-90-million-people-back-to-the-stone-ages\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> during a nationally televised address last week that he would bomb Iran \u201cback to the Stone Ages\u201d if the vital waterway is not reopened.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the president\u2019s remarks, Freedom of the Press Foundation advocacy chief Seth Stern said that \u201cDonald Trump has long harbored bizarre fantasies about having journalists arrested and even <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/politics-news\/trump-imagines-journalists-raped-prison-1234626493\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sexually assaulted in prison<\/a> for refusing to burn their sources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut journalists don\u2019t work for the government and their right to publish government leaks is protected by the First Amendment which, despite Trump\u2019s efforts, remains the law of the land,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt does not disappear whenever the words \u2018national security\u2019 are uttered. To the extent that the government is allowed to withhold information, it\u2019s up to the government to keep its secrets, not journalists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConfidential sources are the lifeblood of investigative journalism,\u201d Stern contended. \u201cSources who come forward at great personal risk won\u2019t do so if they don\u2019t trust that their identities won\u2019t be revealed, as Trump knows well from his days <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/donald-trump-alter-ego-barron\/2016\/05\/12\/02ac99ec-16fe-11e6-aa55-670cabef46e0_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">impersonating publicists<\/a> to brag about himself to reporters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of the most important news stories in American history have come from confidential sources, including stories that have brought down corrupt presidents,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s why Trump is so obsessed with leaks. It has nothing to do with national security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Update: This article has been updated with reaction from Freedom of the Press Foundation advocacy chief Seth Stern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump vowed Monday to find the \u201cleaker\u201d who disclosed that US forces could not locate the second pilot stranded in Iran after their F-15 fighter jet was shot down, threatening to jail unnamed journalists who received the information if they do not reveal its source. Trump claimed that Iranian authorities did not know [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[806],"class_list":["post-58579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"0","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"\u201cWe 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 \u2013 give it up or go to jail,\u2019\u201d the president said. 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