Israeli journalist Amit Segal has admitted he was the first to report that a US airman in Iran had been rescued, in a rare public confession that comes as US President Donald Trump threatens to force the reporter behind the disclosure to reveal their source or face jail.
According to Newsweek, Segal confirmed that he broke the story based on information from his sources, but said he would not reveal who provided it.
“I will safeguard my sources at all costs,” Segal said, highlighting the pressure journalists can face when reporting on sensitive military developments.
The report emerged in the aftermath of a high-stakes US military operation after an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over southwestern Iran on April 3. One of the two officers onboard was rescued soon after the crash, while efforts to recover the second continued for two days, fuelling concern in military and diplomatic circles.
Against that backdrop, Trump on Monday sharply escalated his criticism of the press, saying he would demand that the journalist who first reported the rescue identify how they obtained the information.
Trump said the disclosure had endangered the ongoing mission to recover the second airman, although that officer was later also rescued safely.
“We didn’t talk about the first one for an hour. Then somebody leaked something, which, we will hopefully find that leaker. We’re looking very hard to find that leaker,” Trump told a White House press conference.
“We’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security, give it up or go to jail'”.
It was not immediately clear which specific media outlet or reporter Trump was referring to. Multiple news organisations, including The New York Times, CBS News and Axios, reported within a short span that one of the two airmen had been recovered by US rescue forces after the fighter jet was brought down over Iran on Friday.
The White House did not immediately respond when asked which journalist Trump was threatening.
Trump’s remarks marked a significant intensification of his administration’s attacks on the media.
In recent weeks, he has privately complained to aides that coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran has been overly negative, while he and his allies have also publicly criticised several news organisations over their reporting on the conflict.
The pressure on broadcasters has also grown. Last month, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr wrote on X that broadcasters airing “fake news” had an opportunity to “correct course before their licence renewals come up”.
His post was accompanied by a screenshot of a Truth Social post by Trump, in which the president claimed that “Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media actually want us to lose the War.”
