Trump suggests those who leak government information should ‘be shot’

The US president has long been unhappy with inside information about his administration being leaked to the media.

United States President Donald Trump raises his fist as he leaves the rally stage in Bullhead City, Arizona, on October 14, 2026 [AFP]

United States President Donald Trump has suggested that those who leak information to the news media should be shot as punishment.

Trump made the remarks at a campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, as he urged supporters to vote in the November 3 midterm elections.

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“In my opinion, leakers should be shot,” Trump told the crowd. “In the old days, we used to shoot leakers, you know, when they leak what time you’re going to attack a country.”

Trump made the statement in an apparent reference to Operation Midnight Hammer, which saw the US launch a surprise attack on Iran in June 2025 during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.

In the aftermath of the attack, several media outlets published findings from a preliminary report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency.

That report – which had not yet been released to the public – indicated that Iran was able to move some of its enriched uranium away from the sites the US had bombed.

It also suggested that the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities was more modest than what Trump had asserted.

Trump, however, appeared to signal that the timing of the US attacks was among the leaked information. He accused the news media of putting military members in danger, calling out The New York Times and CNN in particular.

“They leaked the time we were leaving, the time we were arriving,” Trump said, claiming he had to reschedule the bombing campaign two days later as a result.

“Somebody leaked. Some sleaze-bag, they ought to go to jail or be shot. For the rest of their life, they should be in jail.”

Trump has long had an adversarial relationship with the news media, and he has previously called for harsh punishment against any official who passes on confidential information to news outlets.

After parts of the Defense Intelligence Agency report became public, he blamed lawmakers in the Democratic Party for its release.

“The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran,” Trump wrote on social media at the time. “They should be prosecuted!”

Under Trump, the White House has taken aggressive action to track down the source of leaks.

Staff in his administration , as well as officers in the military, have also been asked to take polygraph tests.

Journalists at several news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, have also received subpoenas aimed at determining the sources of internal information made public.

The newspapers had reported on stories such as a botched Navy SEALs raid in North Korea and how Trump ignored internal Pentagon warnings against launching the Iran war.

Last year, the Department of Defense demanded that journalists who wished to access the Pentagon sign an agreement not to publish unauthorised material.

Much of the Pentagon press corps refused to agree, and a federal court struck down many of the new demands made on journalists at the department.

Trump has long raged against leakers, going back to his first term as president from 2017 to 2021.

Former White House official Alyssa Farah Griffin told a podcast in 2024 that Trump had called for leakers to be executed, after media outlets reported that he had taken shelter in a White House bunker during racial justice protests in 2020.

Trump appeared to reprise that sentiment in his speech to Arizona voters on Wednesday, less than three weeks before the November 3 midterms.

“Leakers should be dealt with very, very strongly,” Trump said. “To me, they are the scum of the earth.”

美国总统长期以来一直对政府内部信息泄露给媒体感到不满。

2026年10月14日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在亚利桑那州布尔黑德市的集会结束后，举起拳头离开舞台。[法新社]

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普曾建议，应该枪毙那些向新闻媒体泄露信息的人以示惩罚。

特朗普在亚利桑那州布尔黑德市的一次竞选集会上发表了上述言论，他敦促支持者在11月3日的中期选举中投票。

问题 1/3：为什么特朗普政府下令对工作人员进行测谎？

列表 2/3：五角大楼就媒体泄密事件对数十名美国军方人员进行测谎

《纽约时报》披露特朗普政府就朝鲜问题发出传票（共3条报道，此为第3条）

“依我之见，泄密者应该被枪毙，”特朗普对人群说。“以前，我们就是这么对待泄密者的，你知道，当他们泄露我们何时进攻一个国家时。”

特朗普发表此番言论显然是指“午夜铁锤行动”，该行动是美国在 2025 年 6 月以色列和伊朗之间为期 12 天的战争期间对伊朗发动的一次突袭。

袭击发生后，多家媒体刊登了美国国防情报局初步报告的调查结果。

那份尚未向公众发布的报告显示，伊朗能够将其部分浓缩铀从美国轰炸过的地点转移出去。

报告还表明，伊朗核设施遭受的破坏程度比特朗普所声称的要轻微得多。

然而，特朗普似乎暗示，美国发动袭击的时间也包含在泄露的信息之中。他指责新闻媒体将军人置于危险之中，并特别点名批评了《纽约时报》和CNN。

“他们泄露了我们出发的时间和到达的时间，”特朗普说，并声称因此他不得不将轰炸行动推迟两天。

“有人泄密了。某个卑鄙小人，应该把他送进监狱或者枪毙。他应该终身监禁。”

特朗普长期以来与新闻媒体关系紧张，他此前曾呼吁严惩任何向新闻媒体泄露机密信息的官员。

在国防情报局报告的部分内容被公开后，他指责民主党议员泄露了这份报告。

“是民主党人泄露了飞往伊朗核设施的完美航班信息，”特朗普当时在社交媒体上写道。“他们应该被起诉！”

在特朗普的领导下，白宫采取了积极行动，追查泄密源头。

他的政府工作人员以及军官也被要求接受测谎测试。

包括《纽约时报》、《华盛顿邮报》和《华尔街日报》在内的多家新闻媒体的记者也收到了传票，目的是确定公开的内部信息的来源。

报纸曾报道过一些新闻，例如美国海军海豹突击队在朝鲜的一次失败的突袭行动，以及特朗普如何无视五角大楼内部关于发动伊朗战争的警告。

去年，美国国防部要求希望进入五角大楼的记者签署协议，不得发布未经授权的材料。

五角大楼的大部分记者拒绝接受这一要求，联邦法院驳回了该部门对记者提出的许多新要求。

特朗普长期以来一直痛恨泄密者，这种愤怒可以追溯到他2017年至2021年的第一个总统任期。

前白宫官员艾丽莎·法拉·格里芬 (Alyssa Farah Griffin) 在 2024 年的一个播客节目中透露，在媒体报道特朗普在 2020 年种族正义抗议活动期间躲进白宫地堡后，特朗普曾呼吁处决泄密者。

距离 11 月 3 日中期选举不到三周，特朗普周三在亚利桑那州向选民发表讲话时似乎重申了这种观点。

特朗普说：“泄密者必须受到非常非常严厉的惩罚。在我看来，他们就是人渣。”