By Michael Katz | Monday, 06 April 2026 05:02 PM EDT
President Donald Trump said Monday his administration is hunting a leaker and warned of possible prosecution after information about a downed U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle crewman surfaced during a sensitive rescue mission.
The pilot of the fighter jet was found shortly after the plane was shot down Friday by a shoulder-fired missile. His wounded crewman, a weapons systems officer, hid in mountainous terrain until the U.S. military located his position and pulled him out Sunday morning.
Trump said at a White House news conference that the administration released only information about the pilot being rescued, not about the missing crewman. “We’re looking very hard to find that leaker and talked about … somebody missing,” he 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.”
Trump warned that if the media organization that first reported the information does not reveal its source, it could face criminal prosecution. “So whoever it is, 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,'” he said.
Trump stated that the leaker and the media organization jeopardized the rescue operation, putting “this mission” and “that man” at great risk, as well as “the hundreds of people that went in looking for them.” He added that the leak made it much more difficult for the pilots and search teams because a leaker revealed one crewman had been rescued but another was missing.
The administration also noted that Iran offered a reward of approximately $60,000 to any Iranian who found the crewman and turned him over to authorities. Trump said, “So actually, the country, Iran put out a major notice… You all saw it, offering a very big award for anybody that captures the pilot.”
Trump concluded by saying he would find the leaker because “that’s a sick person” who probably did not realize the extent of the damage. “We’re going to find out. It’s national security. And the person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say, and that doesn’t last long.”
