Trump's Threats to Journalists Over Iran Strike Leaks

President Trump has been making some bold statements lately. He's thinking about making journalists spill the beans on who leaked info about a U. S. intelligence report. This report talks about the impact of recent U. S. military strikes on Iran's nuclear program. Trump is not happy about this leak and is even talking about prosecuting those involved. In a recent chat with Fox News, Trump stood firm on his claim that the June 21st airstrikes on Iran were a big success. He said these strikes did serious damage to Iran's nuclear program, even though Iran says they moved their nuclear stuff before the strikes happened. Trump isn't buying the leaked report that says the strikes only temporarily slowed down Iran's nuclear plans. He thinks the report is incomplete and biased. Trump has been pointing fingers at Democratic lawmakers and the media for sharing parts of this classified report. He's even talking about legal action against them. During the interview, Trump mentioned a social media post where he accused Democrats of leaking the info and said they should be prosecuted. When asked who exactly should be prosecuted, Trump said, "You can find out – if they wanted, they could find out easily. " Trump has been targeting CNN and The New York Times for their coverage of the strikes. He's called their reporting "unpatriotic" and even hinted at legal action against them. These outlets, along with others, reported that the strikes only had limited success. The bombings delayed Iran's nuclear ambitions but didn't destroy the program completely. Meanwhile, Iran's leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Trump of exaggerating the success of the strikes to cover up the truth. Trump, on the other hand, has been insisting that three nuclear facilities were "obliterated. " He also talked about how his administration might try to find out who leaked the info. He suggested that journalists could be forced to reveal their sources. In the U. S. , journalists usually have the right to keep their sources secret, but there are some limits to this. Trump has even threatened to sue CNN and The New York Times for publishing articles about the preliminary intelligence report. His lawyer sent a letter to The New York Times, calling the article "false, " "defamatory, " and "unpatriotic, " and demanding a retraction and apology.