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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. forces did "a phenomenal job" in rescuing an American airman deep inside Iran, as he spoke to reporters at the White House.
Alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and leading military personnel, Trump spoke about listening in on the operation as it unfolded Saturday, the difficulties of the environment faced by U.S. forces, and praised the work of those who led the rescue.
"It's very historic. This is a rescue that's very historic. It'll go down in the books," Trump said. "He was injured and he was an amazing, amazing thing. He scaled cliff faces, bleeding rather profusely, treated his own wounds, and contacted American forces to transmit his location."
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Scale of US Operation
The president described the rescue efforts, which began Friday, when the aircraft went down and two airmen ejected themselves, through Saturday night. He said 21 aircraft were initially deployed to help with the search-and-rescue efforts.
Trump said they were flying for hours under “very, very heavy enemy fire.” He said the U.S. has one helicopter with many bullets in it.
"The flight crews and warfighters aboard those aircraft took extraordinary risks to rescue their fellow service members," Trump said.
Trump then said up to 155 aircraft were involved, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft, among others. Much of this was an effort to throw off the Iranians, Trump said, who were also looking for the missing crew member.
“We were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge,” Trump said. “We wanted to have them think he was in a different location.”
Airman Rushed Away From Crash
After the crash on Friday, Trump said the downed weapons officer followed his training and got as far away from the site as possible, saying that Iranian forces were likely to surge to that location.
Trump said the officer was “bleeding profusely” but was able to climb mountainous terrain and contact U.S. forces to communicate his location.
"I listened to the whole thing. It was pretty amazing," Trump said. "So that all these different sites where everybody thought he was located, we think we have them over there because they have nine planes circling a little area that's 25 miles down the coast. So, in a breathtaking show of skill and precision, lethality and force, America's military descended on the area, the real area, engaged the enemy, rescued the stranded officer, and destroyed all threats, and exited Iranian territory while taking no casualties of any kind."
Officials said the airman, as yet unnamed, was doing well.
Threat To Jail Journalist
The president turned his attention to the journalist who had initially reported on the search for the crew, saying they should be jailed if they do not reveal their sources within the U.S. military.
“The person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say, and that doesn’t last long,” Trump said, while not naming the reporter or news organization.
He said the leak tipped off the Iranians, endangering the officer and his rescuers. He called the leaker “a sick person.”
This article contains reporting by The Associated Press.
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