Trump says government leakers should face fatal punishment

At a rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, Trump said government leakers should be shot or jailed.

He was referring to workers who share sensitive information with the media, including details about military operations.

Trump said a leak about the timing of a planned raid on Iran forced him to call it off, though the June 2025 strike on Iranian nuclear facilities he appeared to mean went ahead.

Since returning to office, his administration has sought to tighten controls on leaks, including proposing nondisclosure agreements for federal workers.

Federal investigators also questioned about 50 members of the Joint Staff with polygraph tests about whether they had shared classified information with journalists.

The administration has pursued actions involving journalists, including a search of a reporter’s home and subpoenas for four journalists, but courts restricted access to seized data and the subpoenas were dropped.

The dispute raises concerns about press freedom and government efforts to protect classified information; no further appeals in the home-search case were reported.