Trump Says Government Leakers 'Should Be Shot' at Arizona Rally

At a campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, Trump told supporters that government leakers "should be shot," calling them "the scum of the earth." He said, "In the old days, we used to shoot leakers," and that someone who leaks "ought to go to jail or be shot." Trump said he was reacting to leaks of flight-timing details around the June 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iran, which he said forced a two-day delay, and named The New York Times and CNN as the outlets that reported it.

The remark extends Trump's monthslong effort to identify leakers, which has included subpoenaing journalists at major outlets and administering polygraph tests to staff and military officers. A sitting president calling for leakers to be shot, even rhetorically, raises concerns among press-freedom advocates about intimidation of journalists and government employees over protected speech, particularly ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.

No legal action has followed the remark itself. Trump separately wrote on Truth Social that the leakers "should be prosecuted." The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the rally remark.