Fervent speculation grows on WHO is the ‘sick’ leaker Trump vowed to throw behind bars after risking Iran pilot rescue
Donald Trump has vowed to pursue the ‘sick’ leaker who revealed the US was searching for a second missing airman after a warplane was shot down over Iran.
The president said at a briefing on Monday that the unnamed media company behind the report would have to give up the source or go to jail.
“We’re going to go to the media company that published this and say: ‘National security: Give up or go to jail,'” Trump said.
Two airmen were lost when an F-15E fighter jet was shot down behind enemy lines on Good Friday. The pilot was rescued within a few hours, but the jet’s weapon system operator (WSO) remained missing until Sunday morning.
On Friday, an Israeli publication reported that the second airman was missing, and similar reports in the US media followed.
Trump said media reports had warned the Iranians that a covert operation to find a second airman was still ongoing, putting American lives at risk.
“They didn’t know someone was missing until this leaker gave the information,” Trump said. ‘Suddenly the entire country of Iran realized that somewhere in their territory there was a pilot struggling to survive.’
Trump added: ‘We have to find the leaker because he is a sick person.’
President Donald Trump warned that his administration was pursuing a leak that told the media about the successful rescue of a U.S. pilot in Iran on Friday. Trump stated that the report reported that another soldier was at large in Iran, adding that this put people’s lives in danger.
An F-15 airman was rescued in a daring mission Saturday evening after his fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces. The pilot was safely deplaned and rescued by two military helicopters the same day, but the airman remained missing
Following the crash, Iranian military forces placed a $60,000 bounty on the airman’s head, leading Iranian militants to hunt him down in the mountains. (Image: Bakhtiari tribesmen in Khuzestan head into the mountains with rifles in hand, searching for missing American F-15 jet pilot)
A White House official later confirmed to the Daily Mail that the investigation was ongoing.
News of the rescued F-15E pilot appears to have been first reported on X by an Israeli journalist working for Tel Aviv-based Channel 12.
“Western source: One of the American crew members was successfully rescued,” reporter Amit Segal said around 11:20 a.m. Friday.
“I’m not sure I’m the first,” he told the New York Post. ‘And whatever, I’ll protect my resources.’
Barack Obama’s former spokesman, Tommy Vietor, stated that the reporter was in Israel and this could complicate Trump’s efforts.
‘Does this mean Trump will prosecute Israeli journalists or media executives, including those close to Netanyahu?’ Vietor posted on X: ‘What if the source is Netanyahu himself or his team?’
The initial report was quickly followed by confirmations from Axios, CBS News and Reuters.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment on which outlet and reporter would face prison time.
WSO spent approximately 48 hours in Iran; the majority were on the ground to evade Iranian hunting parties, who were offering a reward for the airman’s capture.
The unnamed soldier, flying alongside the pilot with the call sign ‘Dude 44’, landed far from his crew and was injured immediately after ejecting from the F-15E.
While the US army and intelligence agencies could not reach WSO for a long time, the F-15E pilot was rescued by special operations commandos within a few hours.
Eventually the WSO radioed ‘God is good’ and US forces began monitoring and planning its extraction.
Trump on Monday described an all-hands-on-deck operation that used 155 aircraft, including 64 fighter jets, 48 refueling tankers, 13 rescue planes, three helicopters and more.
Trump praised “a breathtaking display of skill and precision, lethality and power” as U.S. forces stormed into mountainous terrain in southern Iran to rescue a weapons systems officer whose F-15E fighter jet crashed on Good Friday.
“He climbed the cliff, was bleeding profusely, contacted his platoon, treated his own wounds, and contacted American forces,” Trump said of the officer rescued on Easter Sunday.
“God was watching over us,” the president said of the successful and odds-defying operation.
