Trump says leakers should be shot: ‘They’re the scum of the earth’

President Trump suggested Wednesday at a campaign rally in Arizona that leakers should be shot, in an apparent reference to leaks surrounding U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“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 said at the rally in Bullhead City, Ariz.

“They leaked that we were leaving at 12:07 from Missouri, and it was in The New York Times, CNN. They leaked the time that we were leaving, the time that we were arriving,” he said, noting the raid had to be delayed for two days.

Trump appeared to be referencing Operation Midnight Hammer, which took place in June 2025.

“In my opinion, leakers should be shot. In the old days, we used to shoot leakers,” he continued. “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.”

The president went on to compare reporters covering him to leakers, saying they were “almost as bad as a leaker.”

“They leak false information. That makes them a leaker,” he said. “Often times, without a source. I think they make up a lot of their sources.”