President Trump is going to war with the “Deep State” leakers inside government, tightening control over classified information to stop it from flowing to corporate media after yet another leak rocked his administration.

The latest leak involved CNN publishing details from a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report on recent U.S. strikes against Iran. The leak claimed the strikes did minimal damage, contradicting Trump’s statements that Iran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated.” The report’s leak outraged the administration, which has long battled leakers undermining Trump’s policies while boosting Democrats and media narratives.

“We are declaring a war on leakers,” a senior White House official told Axios. The administration is working to tighten processes inside the intelligence community to root out “Deep State” actors leaking cherry-picked intelligence with “low confidence” assessments to friendly media.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the FBI is investigating the source, which the administration suspects is within Congress or the intelligence community.

Trump’s move to limit classified briefings to Congress has sparked Democrat outrage, with Senate Intel Democrat Mark Warner calling the move “extraordinarily disturbing” and Chuck Schumer accusing Trump of hiding information out of “insecurity.” But Trump allies argue these leaks have always aimed to damage him politically while helping Democrats push false narratives like the “Russian collusion” hoax that corporate media outlets pushed for years.

Will Chamberlain of the Article III Project told the Daily Caller News Foundation that leakers “committed serious crimes” and media outlets receiving leaks should “expect subpoenas for their sources.”

Mike Howell of the Oversight Project said the cozy relationship between corporate media and government leakers “needs serious scrutiny,” citing how Democrats and media worked together during Russiagate to mislead Americans.

Trump’s administration isn’t backing down. Officials say the crackdown is needed to prevent political actors from using national security leaks to sabotage the president’s agenda, especially after years of leaks undermining efforts to secure the border, reset foreign policy, and confront threats like China and Iran.

The administration’s stance is that Democrats can’t be trusted with sensitive intelligence while partisan actors inside government feed stories to outlets like CNN to shape narratives against the president. They argue that under Biden, similar leaks fueled investigations, hurt U.S. interests, and damaged trust in federal institutions.

While the move to restrict intel sharing with Congress will face resistance, the Trump administration says protecting classified material and rooting out leakers is necessary to safeguard American interests in a dangerous world. In the eyes of Trump and many conservatives, stopping the flow of leaks is part of draining the swamp and protecting the integrity of government at a time when Americans’ trust in institutions remains near historic lows.

Trump’s message is clear: leaking classified material to damage a sitting president will no longer be tolerated. The war on leakers has officially begun.