'Give it up or go to jail': Trump threatens journalists who refuse to reveal Iran sources following downing of US jet
The US president has threatened to jail journalists at the media outlet who first broke the story that a second pilot was missing after a US F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday.
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Trump told reporters during a press conference at the White House on Monday afternoon that the US government was actively pursuing the "leaker" who told the media about the missing airman.
He added that the news complicated the military rescue efforts in Iran, as officials officials were trying to keep quiet following the recovery of the first pilot on Friday.
Trump said: "They basically said that 'we have one and there’s somebody missing.' Well, they didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information.
"So whoever it was, we think we’ll be able to find it out because 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.'"
Trump added: "And we know who – and you know who – we’re talking about. Because some things you can’t do, because when they did that all of a sudden the entire country of Iran knew that there was a pilot that was somewhere on their land that was fighting for his life.”
However, the president hasn't named the reporter or the media company he was threatening. During his second administration, Trump has amped up his efforts to target media outlets that have published stories he dislikes, regularly threatening lawsuits.
A White House official has said that an investigation was underway after being asked for specifics about the media outlet Trump was referring to on Monday.
This follows a "daring" operation over the weekend that saw both crew members of the downed F-15 jet rescued.
On Sunday, the military extracted the second airman in an operation that involved hundreds of troops, and dozens of US warplanes and helicopters, the New York Times reported, citing US officials.
The rescue operations were the first time in military memory that two American pilots had been retrieved separately from inside enemy territory.
Trump said the US rescued both airmen “without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded”.