Donald Trump is amping up his attacks on the First Amendment after feeling betrayed by some of those closest to him.
The president, 79, has reportedly grown increasingly desperate to determine who is behind leaks coming from the White House—so much so that he’s pushing raids on journalists and pressing his administration to jail them, Zeteo reported.
“It’s all made him even more paranoid,” one of Trump’s longtime advisers told the outlet. “He has asked some Cabinet members who they think leaked the information… To those members of his Cabinet, I’d say what I’ve been saying for a month: If you want to find the [Iran-war] leakers, you may want to just look in the mirror.”
Trump’s meltdown over snitches has stood out even by his own standards, sources close to him told Zeteo. His breaking point, apparently, has centered on leaks related to the Iran war, including a bombshell New York Times report revealing that Trump’s Cabinet members were deeply divided over a potential war with Iran before he ultimately pressed the big red button on Feb. 28.
Among other details, the report, published in April, alleged that “nobody in Mr. Trump’s inner circle was more worried about the prospect of war with Iran, or did more to try to stop it, than the vice president.”
Since then, Trump has reportedly pushed administration officials to direct FBI agents to raid the homes of journalists and identify the sources behind the leaks—moves critics say would be a direct assault on press freedom.
Trump, however, reportedly views the raids as justified because he believes “national security” is at stake, according to sources who spoke to Zeteo. He has also urged acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to jail reporters alongside violent inmates until they give up their sources.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the administration’s nuanced take on constitutional rights.
“Leaking classified information regarding sensitive military operations is a felony offense that puts American lives at risk,” she wrote in a statement to the Daily Beast. “The Trump administration will not hesitate to hold criminals who break the law and endanger the safety of our servicemembers and the national security of our homeland accountable.”
Just yesterday, Blanche—Trump’s former personal attorney—defended the administration’s latest offensive against the media.
“To the media asking about DOJ investigating the leaking of classified information: Prosecuting leakers who share our nation’s secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration,” Blanche said in a statement.
“Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material,” he added.
The DOJ’s move came after Trump reportedly shoved a stack of newspaper clippings across the Oval Office’s Resolute Desk toward Blanche, with a sticky note on top scrawled with the word “treason.” Treason can carry the death penalty and has long been one of Trump’s favorite accusations to hurl at his enemies.
Blanche’s remarks on Tuesday came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that it had received grand jury subpoenas seeking records tied to its reporters.
The March 4 request stemmed from a Feb. 23 story in which the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper reported that top Pentagon officials had raised concerns with Trump about an extended military campaign against Iran. Five days later, Trump started the war.
