President Trump vowed Monday to catch the “leaker” who revealed that US forces were not immediately able to rescue the second F-15 pilot shot down over Iran — as he told again of the wounded airman’s dramatic weekend rescue.
“We’re looking very hard to find that leaker,” Trump said in the White House briefing room. “They basically said that we have one and there’s somebody missing. Well, [Iran] didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information.”
Trump explained that the leak could have endangered the missing pilot’s life.
“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,’” Trump said.
Israel’s Channel 12 was credited by Military Times with being the first to report that a second American pilot was missing in a broadcast.
The Post was unable to immediately find the clip, but Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal posted the information to X at 11:19 a.m on Friday.
“Western source: One of the American crew members was successfully rescued,” he wrote.
Segal exclusively told The Post on Monday that he was unaware if he was the first to report the news, but pledged not to disclose who tipped him off.
“I’m not sure I was the first,” He said. “And anyway — I will protect my sources.”
Outlets including Axios — which appears to be the first US-language outlet to report the news — and the Washington Post also ran stories quoting US and Israeli officials and sources familiar shortly after the Channel 12 reporter’s tweet.
A senior administration official declined to name the suspected reporter.
