BOLD: Trump Says Leakers 'Should Be Shot' — 'The Scum of the Earth'

Published October 15, 2026 • By Naeemofficial782

President Donald Trump told a rally crowd in Arizona on Wednesday that government officials who leak information to the press "should be shot" — calling them "the scum of the earth" and saying "in the old days, we used to shoot leakers".

The remark came at a midterm rally in Bullhead City — and during the same week his administration continued its crackdown on government employees suspected of talking to journalists.

The Receipt

Trump was speaking at a midterm rally when he launched into an extended attack on leaks — and the press.

"Somebody leaked, some sleazebag. They ought to go to jail and be shot. For the rest of their life, they should be in jail," Trump said.

"In my opinion, leakers should be shot," he continued, drawing applause from the crowd. "In the old days, we used to shoot leakers, you know?"

He appeared to be referring to leaks of military plans during a US operation against Iran, claiming that media reports had forced him to delay a planned strike.

Then he turned to the journalists covering his rally.

"Those same people up there, they're almost as bad as a leaker, because they leak," he said. "Oh, they leak false information. That makes them a leaker, right? To me, they're the scum of the earth. The leakers are the scum of the earth."

The Pattern

This is not new. Trump has been calling for leakers to be executed for over a decade.

• In 2010, he said WikiLeaks leaker Chelsea Manning should face the death penalty
• In 2013, he said Edward Snowden "should be executed"
• In 2019, he told UN staff that whistleblowers were "close to a spy" and said "we used to handle them a little differently"

But this is the first time a sitting president has called for the execution of leakers at a political rally — while actively pursuing them through the justice system.

In August, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a joint task force between the Pentagon and the Justice Department to identify and prosecute leakers. Federal investigators have subjected roughly 50 members of the Joint Staff to polygraph tests about whether they spoke to journalists. The administration has sought grand jury testimony from reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

The Bottom Line

A president who says leakers "should be shot" — while his administration polygraphs federal employees and subpoenas journalists — is not making a rhetorical point. He is describing what he wants to do.

The First Amendment protects the right to publish information the government wants hidden. Trump just told a cheering crowd that right should be punishable by death.