Trump calls for leakers to be shot as he rallies conservative base ahead of midterms

US President Donald Trump called for leakers to be shot ahead of the November midterm elections, while sharply escalating his attacks on Democrats by warning that their victory would bring a "dark age" to America. With the midterms 20 days away and polls suggesting Republicans could lose their majority in both chambers of Congress, the remarks are seen as part of a push to energize conservative voters.

According to Bloomberg and other outlets, Trump made the comments Wednesday (local time) at a campaign rally in Bullhead City, Arizona, claiming that classified military information had been leaked to the press during operations against Iran. "I think leakers should be shot," he said.

"In the old days, they used to shoot leakers," Trump said. "Leakers have to be treated very, very harshly." He went on to call them "the scum of the earth."

Trump claimed that sensitive details — including airstrike timing — had been leaked to the media before operations against Iran, forcing a change in the mission schedule. The remarks, however, risk inflaming the broader debate over press freedom and classified information.

Bloomberg noted that comments like Trump's attack on leakers could dilute the administration's electoral message at a time when inflation and the economy have emerged as the central issues of the midterm campaign.

Trump also kept up his offensive against Democrats at the rally. "If we lose the election, you could lose the tax exemptions on tips, overtime and Social Security," he said. "The Democrats want to get rid of all of those benefits."

He warned that if Democrats retook power, they would "immediately open the border, sell Arizona to the cartels and raise prices," urging voters to back Republicans. Trump held up his border control and drug enforcement policies as achievements of his second term, arguing Democrats would reverse them.

"All you have to do is vote Republican," Trump said, "and you'll have all of this and more."

Bullhead City, the site of the rally, is a Republican stronghold. Trump won Arizona with 52.2 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election and carried Mohave County — where Bullhead City is located — with 77 percent.

His decision to visit a safe Republican area rather than a competitive battleground ahead of the midterms is widely interpreted as a strategy to consolidate his base and drive up turnout among core supporters.

The rally was held on an airport tarmac. Trump descended from his new Air Force One — a converted Boeing 747-8 gifted by the Qatari royal family — and spoke for about an hour and 40 minutes with the aircraft as his backdrop.

Addressing the controversy over accepting the jet, Trump brushed off criticism. "When Qatar gives you a 747, you say two words: 'Thank you,'" he said, defending the gift as entirely appropriate. The aircraft was provided by the Qatari royal family during Trump's Middle East tour last year.

At a subsequent rally in Kalispell, Montana, Trump warned that a Democratic victory would bring a "dark age" to America. "If the Democrats win, they will pack the Supreme Court with radical Marxists and take away your guns," he said, invoking Second Amendment rights.

Trump also touted his tariff policy, claiming that automakers were returning to the United States from Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and Germany. He credited his high-tariff approach with driving manufacturing investment back to the country.

He also announced plans to establish a large military testing range in Montana for autonomous weapons, space and electronic warfare, and hypersonic technology.

Trump repeated his campaign pledge to distribute a $5,000 dividend to every adult American citizen if Republicans win control of both chambers in the midterms. He said the payments would be required to be spent within the United States, describing the arrangement as a "recycling" of money through the economy.