"Leakers Should Be Shot" — Trump Demands Executions for Media Leaks at Arizona Rally
BULLHEAD CITY, Arizona — President Donald Trump called for the execution of government officials who leak information to the media during a midterm campaign rally on Wednesday, declaring that leakers are "the scum of the earth" and should be dealt with "very, very strongly."
"In my opinion, leakers should be shot," Trump told thousands of supporters gathered at the Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport. "In the old days, we used to shoot leakers."
The president made the remarks while recounting what he said was a leak of operational details ahead of Operation Midnight Hammer — the June 2025 American bombing campaign that struck Iran's nuclear facilities with B-2 stealth bombers. Trump claimed the leak disclosed the departure and arrival times of the bombers before the planned strikes.
"Somebody leaked, some sleazebag," Trump said. "They ought to go to jail and be shot."
According to the president, he contacted Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and temporarily called off the mission upon learning of the leak, rescheduling it for two days later. He named The New York Times and CNN as outlets that had reported on the leaked information. The president's account of the alleged leak and the military decisions surrounding it has not been independently verified.
Minutes after demanding leakers face execution, Trump turned his attention to reporters covering his administration, explicitly comparing them to the leakers he had just said should be shot.
"They're almost as bad as a leaker because they leak," Trump said of journalists. "They leak false information — that makes them a leaker — oftentimes without a source."
The comments come just days after Trump approved the execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan by military firing squad, scheduled for December 3. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to livestream the execution, though Trump indicated the broadcast could still be canceled.
Wednesday's Arizona rally was the third stop this week in Trump's month-long campaign blitz to boost Republican candidates ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, following stops in Ohio and Alaska. Trump is campaigning for Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs in Arizona.
The president arrived on the brand-new Air Force One — a gift from Qatar — and spoke to the audience from behind a pane of security glass, more than two years after he was shot at during an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
From the podium, Trump promised gas prices would come down and the war in Iran would end "very soon," but polling shows voters have turned on the president and his party amid the conflict, which has now entered its eighth month. The rally also featured professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a short speech.
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