Trump detailed that the officer was wounded, and reaffirmed that the US military leaves “no one behind.” “I ordered the American armed forces to do whatever was necessary to bring our brave warriors back home,” Trump told reporters.

‘Somebody leaked something’

Trump threatened to jail the journalist who first reported that US military were searching for the officer shot down in Iran, if they don’t reveal their sources.

“The person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say,” Trump said. He said the leak tipped off the Iranians, endangering the officer and his rescuers. Without naming the individual or news outlet, he called the leaker “a sick person.”

Trump acknowledges ‘lucky shot’

Earlier on Monday, on the sidelines of the White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump said Iran was able to down a US aircraft with a “lucky shot” during the operation. He also said “we have some helicopters with a lot of bullet holes in them right now probably.”

USAF officer rescue operation

On Sunday, Donald Trump announced that the American military successfully conducted the rescue operation.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies.”

According to an initial NYT, during the rescue of the weapons officer, two US transport planes, meant to carry the personnel to safety, got stuck at a remote base, prompting the personnel to blow the aircraft up.

However, later in the day, the Unified Command of the Iranian Armed Forces said that two C-130 planes and two Blackhawk helicopters were downed south of Isfahan during the rescue operation.