President Donald Trump went scorched-earth on military leakers Wednesday, declaring that anyone who blows the whistle on U.S. war plans "should be shot" after a stunning disclosure allegedly compromised a B-2 bomber mission targeting Iran.
The commander-in-chief told a rally crowd in Arizona that a "sleazebag" tipped off the press about the exact departure and arrival times of America's stealth bombers, giving Tehran a heads-up that ruined the element of surprise.
"They ought to go to jail. But they leaked that we were leaving at 1207 from Missouri," Trump fumed. "And it was in the New York Times, CNN, they leaked the time we were leaving, the time we were arriving."
"In my opinion, leakers should be shot."
The B-2 Mission That Got Burned
The president laid out the jaw-dropping sequence of events, describing how he ordered the bat-winged B-2 stealth bombers, the kind that "carry very large bombs and are totally stealth," toward Iranian targets only to learn the enemy was already waiting.
"Iran was waiting for them, and they never got to see him," Trump said. "1:00 in the morning, they flew over and, you know, somebody leaked, some sleazebag."
Furious, Trump picked up the phone and called Gen. Dan Caine, who assured him the military could still press ahead despite the blown cover.
"I said, let's change the time. So I called off the raid," Trump recalled, adding that the strikes ultimately went ahead two days later, using the exact same departure window the leakers had already exposed.
"That was the only time that they didn't expect us to be used," the president explained, turning the leak into a twisted advantage. "We used the exact same time, but they leaked."
Oil Markets On A Knife's Edge
The extraordinary disclosure came as the Middle East teetered on the brink, with oil prices surging amid a wave of attacks rattling the region's energy infrastructure.
Brent crude jumped to $106.06 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate hit a three-week high of $95.09 after Houthi rebels struck the headquarters of oil giant Saudi Aramco in the eastern city of Dhahran.
The Iran-backed Houthis vowed Wednesday to keep hammering airports and oil facilities across Saudi Arabia, and a Saudi-led coalition announced it had shot down an incoming drone over the kingdom's Eastern Province.
Iran piled on with threats of new tactics targeting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that funnels a fifth of the world's oil, sending shivers through already jittery energy markets.
Shadow War Goes Digital
The chaos isn't just playing out in the skies over the Gulf. X, the social media platform owned by Trump ally Elon Musk, announced it had suspended more than 13,000 fake accounts tied to foreign influence operations from Iran, Russia and China.
The networks used inauthentic accounts to post and amplify content about U.S. politics, targeting candidates and public figures across the political spectrum, the platform said.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces said it had wrapped up a four-month operation in northern Gaza that eliminated more than 100 terrorists, including some who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and destroyed five miles of underground tunnels.
The Bottom Line
With bombers allegedly compromised, oil markets on fire and proxy armies trading fire across the Gulf, Trump's message to anyone with loose lips was as blunt as it gets.
The commander-in-chief drew a line that even the most plugged-in Pentagon gossip can't misread: betray the mission, and face the ultimate price.
For an administration already juggling a regional powder keg, a leak that hands Tehran a heads-up isn't just embarrassing. It's a betrayal the president says should be paid for in blood.
