During a rally in Arizona on 14/10, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that an airstrike campaign against Iran, involving B-2 strategic bombers, was foiled because someone leaked operational plans to the media.
"For two weeks, we moved those beautiful B-2s carrying many large bombs, and they were completely stealthy", Trump said. "But when they flew there at 1 am, Iran was ready and waiting. They had to fly over because some scum leaked the information".
The U.S. President did not specify which mission, but he appeared to be referring to an airstrike operation against Iran's nuclear facilities that U.S. B-2 stealth aircraft carried out last year.
"In my opinion, those who leak information should be executed by firing squad. In the past, we used to execute by firing squad those who leaked information like that", he stated.
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President Trump speaks at a rally in Arizona on 14/10. Photo: *Reuters* |
The U.S. President also turned to criticize the media, pointing at reporters covering the rally and saying: "They are no different from the leakers".
In July, Trump stated his support for prosecuting journalists who received leaked information. His administration also made strong efforts to track down those who shared information with reporters, including an FBI search of a Washington Post reporter's home in January and the issuance of subpoenas to New York Times journalists in July.
Many of his actions targeting the press were blocked by judges, but investigations into suspected leakers continued.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth initiated investigations into information leaks within the Pentagon, even requiring his senior assistants to take lie detector tests. However, this large-scale effort was halted after an assistant filed a complaint with the White House.
Trump also supported the application of the federal death penalty, contrary to the moratorium on federal executions under the Biden administration. His administration approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, a former army major who carried out a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
Secretary Hegseth once announced plans to livestream Hasan's execution to "send a deterrent message", but faced strong public backlash and Republican lawmakers. Trump announced the cancellation of the execution livestream plan on 15/10.
"Many decent, well-intentioned people do not want to see him die livestreamed", Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.
Hoang Lan (from Washington Post)
