Trump says leakers should be shot at Arizona rally

United States President Donald Trump has said people who leak government information to the media should be shot, making the remarks at a campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona. He was urging supporters to vote in the November 3 midterm elections when he made the comments. Trump said, "In my opinion, leakers should be shot," and added that in the past people were shot for leaking details about military attacks.

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The president appeared to be referring to Operation Midnight Hammer, the US attack on Iran in June 2025 during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. He said leaks had exposed the timing of the operation, claiming that "somebody leaked" the departure and arrival times. Trump also said he had to reschedule the bombing campaign by two days because of the leak.

He accused The New York Times and CNN of endangering military personnel by publishing details that he said should not have been made public. The remarks came after media outlets reported findings from a preliminary report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency on the Iran strikes. That report, which had not yet been released publicly at the time, said Iran had moved some enriched uranium away from sites hit by the US and suggested the damage to nuclear facilities was more limited than Trump had claimed.

Trump has repeatedly expressed anger over leaks from his administration and has previously called for harsh punishment for officials who pass confidential information to news organisations. The comments are politically significant because they were made by a sitting US president at a campaign event and linked to a recent military operation involving Iran. They also come amid a broader confrontation between the White House and major news organisations over the handling of classified or sensitive information.

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The episode is likely to intensify debate over the limits of presidential rhetoric, press freedom and the treatment of leakers inside government. Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with the media, and his latest remarks fit a pattern of public attacks on outlets he says have harmed national security. After parts of the Defense Intelligence Agency report became public, he blamed Democrats for the leak and said those responsible should be prosecuted.

The White House under Trump has also taken aggressive steps to identify the source of leaks, including asking staff and military officers about confidential disclosures. What remains unclear is whether Trump's comments will prompt any formal response from federal authorities or from the media organisations he named. It is also not clear whether the remarks will affect the administration's wider approach to leaks or its relationship with the press during the election campaign.

The immediate focus now is on the political fallout from the rally speech and whether officials seek to clarify or distance themselves from the president's language.

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