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President Donald Trump used a campaign rally in Arizona on Wednesday to call for the execution of government workers who pass sensitive information to reporters. He then turned to the media section and accused the journalists there of acting like leakers.
The remarks came in Bullhead City, where Trump grew heated while describing a military operation he says was compromised. “Leakers should be, in my opinion, leakers should be shot,” he told the crowd, adding: “You know, when they leak what time you’re going to attack a country.” Further, Trump added he had to cancel a planned raid on Iran because someone “leaked the time we were leaving, the time we were arriving.” He appeared to be referencing the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, which went forward regardless.
He claimed the departure time from Missouri, 12:07, appeared in coverage by The New York Times and CNN. He called the source “some sleazebag” who should “go to jail or be shot,” and later described leakers as “the scum of the Earth.” Donald Trump, who has branded the media the “true Enemy of the People,” then gestured at the reporters covering the event. “Those same people up there, they’re almost as bad as a leaker, because they leak,” he said. He went on: “Oh, they leak false information. That makes them a leaker, right?”
Since Trump returned to office, his administration has pressed hard against unauthorized disclosures. One proposal would require “new and existing employees” at federal agencies to sign nondisclosure agreements. Investigators also reportedly gave polygraph tests to roughly 50 members of the military’s Joint Staff and asked whether they had shared classified material with reporters.
The government has also gone after journalists directly. In January, Trump approved a search of the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. In June, prosecutors sought grand jury testimony from four reporters. Now, the recent comments add to an ongoing conflict between Trump and the media outlets that publish what they learn.