Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would demand the journalist who first reported on the rescue of the U.S. pilot in Iran reveal the source of that information, threatening imprisonment if they refused. The U.S. leader stated that the disclosure of the information jeopardized the safety of the rescue operation for the second pilot, which was still ongoing at the time. However, the second pilot was later rescued safely. President Trump indicated that the authorities had not disclosed information about the first pilot for an hour, but someone had leaked the information, and officials are now conducting a serious investigation to find those responsible.

According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Trump reiterated that he would contact media companies that reported on the story, citing national security reasons, to demand that they disclose their sources, otherwise they would face imprisonment. It remains unclear which news outlets or journalists the US leader was referring to, as several media outlets, including The New York Times, CBS News, and Axios, reported on the rescue of the first pilot around the same time.

President Trump's remarks during a press conference at the White House are seen as a significant escalation of the government's attack on the media. In recent weeks, the president has reportedly vented his frustration to close associates about the media's overly negative coverage of the US-Israeli-Iran conflict. The president and his allies have also publicly criticized the work of certain news organizations.