Trump suggests those who leak government information should ‘be shot’

The US president has long been unhappy with inside information about his administration being leaked to the media. Save Share United States President Donald Trump has suggested that those who leak information to the news media should be shot and killed as punishment. Trump made the remarks at a campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, as he rallied supporters to vote in the November 3 midterm elections. “In my opinion, leakers should be shot,” Trump told the crowd. “In the old days, we used to shoot leakers, you know, when they leak what time you’re going to attack a country.” Trump made the statement in an apparent reference to Operation Midnight Hammer, which saw the US launch a surprise attack on Iran in June 2025, as part of its Twelve-Day War with Israel. In the aftermath of the attack, several media outlets published findings from a preliminary report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency. That report — which had not yet been released to the public — indicated that Iran was able to move some of its enriched uranium away from the sites the US had bombed. It also suggested that the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities was more modest than what Trump had asserted. Trump, however, appeared to signal that the timing of the US attacks was among the leaked information. He accused the news media of putting military members in danger, calling out The New York Times and CNN in particular. “ They leaked the time we were leaving, the time we were arriving,” Trump said, claiming he had to reschedule the bombing campaign two days later as a result. “ 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 long had an adversarial relationship with the news media, and he has previously called for harsh punishment against any official who passes on confidential information to news outlets. After parts of the Defence Intelligence Agency report became public, he blamed lawmakers in the Democratic Party for its release. “The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran,” Trumpwroteon social media at the time. “They should be prosecuted!” Under Trump, the White House has also taken aggressive action to track down the source of leaks. Staff in hisadministration, as well asofficersin the military, have also been asked to take polygraph tests to trace the source of leaks....