As John observes in the adjacent post, President Trump called a press conference this afternoon in advance of the deadline he has set for reaching some kind of agreement with whoever is running the show in Iran. The press conference addressed the rescue missions that extracted the pilot and weapons systems officer of the downed F-15E Strike Eagle that, we learned, bore the call sign DUDE 44. The success of both rescue missions seems miraculous. However, Trump focused on the rescue of the injured weaopns service officer hidden high on a mountain ridge. That is one for the books.
I have posted White House video of the press conference below and cued it to begin with Trump’s opening, He was followed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine. They told a complicated story. Stephen Losey of Air & Space Forces Magazine has knit their statements into a coherent narrative in “The Rescue of DUDE 44: Inside the Massive Operation to Save Two Downed Airmen In Iran.”
Trump decried the report that disclosed our rescue of the pilot. He said it endangered and complicated the mission to rescue the weapons systems officer. He attributed the report to a leak. He pledged to track down the leaker via unidentified outlet that reported it. “We’re going to go to the media company that released it and we’re going to say, ‘national security—give it up or go to jail,'” he said. RCP has posted the video clip and transcript of that portion of the press conference here.
Trump took questions from the throng of reporters on hand. The New York Times reporter posed a question with a premise that is aligned with Iran’s position. In his post John capably disputes the premise. Trump did not shed much light on the status of any impending agreement with Iran or the Stone Age that is his threatened alternative if no agreement is reached before 8:00 p.m. (Eastern) tomorrow evening.
