Trump says government officials who leak to the media ‘should be shot’

President Donald Trump said at a campaign rally Wednesday that there should be fatal consequences for any government worker who leaks sensitive information to the media.

“Leakers should be, in my opinion, leakers should be shot,” Trump said. “You know, when they leak what time you’re going to attack a country.”

Trump described what he said was a planned raid on Iran that he had to call off after someone “leaked the time we were leaving, the time we were arriving.” He appeared to be referring to the U.S. military strike on Iran nuclear facilities in June 2025, which still went ahead.