U.S. President Donald Trump on September 09, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that government leakers “should be shot,” blasting the disclosure of sensitive military information surrounding U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities during a campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona.
“Somebody leaked, some sleazebag. They ought to go to jail and be shot. For the rest of their life, they should be in jail,” Trump told supporters, referring to Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 U.S. strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.”
“They leaked that we were leaving at 12:07 from Missouri, and it was in The New York Times, CNN,” Trump said.
“They leaked the time we were leaving, the time we were arriving,” he said.
Trump said the disclosure prompted him to contact Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the potential security risks.
“I said, ‘General, that’s not good, is it?’ He said, ‘Not good, sir, but we can do it anyway.’ I said, ‘Let’s change the time.’ So I called off the raid,” Trump recalled.
The president said the operation was delayed for two days before proceeding at the originally planned departure time, a decision he suggested caught Iran off guard.
“But they leak. Leakers should be, in my opinion, leakers should be shot,” Trump said. “In the old days, we used to shoot leakers.”
“When they leak what time you’re going to attack a country, and the reason you’re attacking is really for defense because you don’t want them to have a weapon that can blow up millions of people in one shot,” he added.
“No, leakers should be dealt with very, very strongly,” Trump continued. “To me, they’re the scum of the earth.”
Trump also took aim at journalists, comparing their reporting practices to the disclosure of classified information.
“They’re almost as bad as a leaker,” Trump said of reporters.
“They leak false information, that makes them a leaker. Oftentimes, without a source. I think they make up a lot of their sources,” the president said.
Turning to the ongoing confrontation with Tehran, Trump suggested Iran’s leadership was in disarray.
“Nobody wants to be the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said. “Who would like to be the president of Iran?
“Please raise your hand. No, I don’t want to be.”
“I probably went a little too far. I’m sorry, because I don’t know who the hell we’re dealing with anymore,” Trump added, before predicting the conflict would end soon.
Trump defended the military action as necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, describing the country as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.
“If they had a nuclear weapon, within 24 hours they would use it,” Trump claimed. “They’ll knock out the Middle East, then they’ll start hitting us on the West Coast.”
“They’ll hit Europe because they’re crazy,” he said.
The president also predicted gasoline prices would fall once the confrontation ended.
“When that ends, your gasoline is going to go down to even lower than it was before it started,” Trump said.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.