Trump threatened to jail a reporter for revealing a second US airman was still stranded in Iran

The President Told a Reporter to Reveal a Source or Go to Jail. It Was Live on Camera.

On April 6, 2026, during a White House press exchange, President Donald Trump directly threatened a reporter with imprisonment. The reporter had revealed that a second US airman was still unaccounted for in Iran — contradicting official White House statements that all American personnel had been accounted for.

The Exact Words

Trump's response, captured on video by multiple networks including NBC, CNN, and Variety: **"National security. Give it up or go to jail."** The "it" referred to the reporter's source. The "jail" referred to American federal prison. The sitting president of the United States, on camera, telling a journalist to reveal a confidential source or face incarceration.

The First Amendment

The Knight First Amendment Institute called the threat unconstitutional. Press freedom advocates noted that under US law, reporters cannot be compelled to reveal sources under most circumstances — and cannot be imprisoned simply for publishing information in the public interest. Common Dreams, Variety, and CNN all ran the exchange as lead stories.

The Stranded Airman

The reason for the threat was a reporting scoop: one American airman remained unaccounted for inside Iran after the ceasefire. The White House had been claiming a full accounting. The reporter's source contradicted the official story. The president's response was not to correct the record. It was to threaten the messenger.