Key Journo Defiant Amid Trump Hunt For Leaker: ‘I Will Protect My Sources’

President Donald Trump arrives from the Blue Room to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

President Donald Trump sparked a wave of speculation and intrigue on Monday when he announced that his administration was hunting for an alleged leaker and he threatened a journalist at an unnamed “media company” to give up its source or face jail for reporting on the rescue of the first downed airman in Iran late last week.

Amit Segal, a political pundit and reporter at Israel’s Channel 12, was among the first on Friday to report the airman had been rescued, which led to speculation that he may be the journalist Trump was referring to.

Trump fumed during the presser, saying, “But we have to find that leaker, because that’s a sick person. Probably didn’t realize the extent of how bad it was — I can’t imagine that the person did. But we’re going to find out. It’s national security.”

“And the person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say. And that doesn’t last long. And I think everybody would understand that. They put this mission at great risk,” Trump added. Trump’s comments appeared, however, to be aimed at an American journalist, given the limited jurisdiction the U.S. would have to jail or pressure a foreign-based journalist.

The New York Post’s Caitlin Doornbos explained the timeline around Segal’s reporting last Friday, noting:

The Post was unable to immediately find the clip, but Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal posted the information to X at 11:19 a.m on Friday.

“Western source: One of the American crew members was successfully rescued,” he wrote.

Segal, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, spoke to Doornbos about Trump’s comments. “I’m not sure I was the first,” Segal said about the report the airman had been rescued, which meant the other was still unaccounted for.

“And anyway — I will protect my sources,” Segal told Doornbos.

Axios’s Barak Ravid confirmed the news shortly after Segal’s report, making him among other U.S.-based outlets, like CBS and the Washington Post, to quickly run with the story.

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