Donald Trump has broken his long silence on the downing of a fighter jet in Iran, raging “this is war”. Speaking to NBC News, the US President said the shooting down of an American F-15E fighter jet would not affect negotiations.
When asked directly whether it would impact negotiations, he responded: “No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war.” He refused to discuss details of the search and rescue effort, with one crew member believed to be missing, but the US President expressed frustration at coverage of any military operations.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the US President was briefed on the incident before 5pm today, UK time.
This is the first response Mr Trump has given publicly directly responding to the incident., although he posted on Truth Social “KEEP THE OIL, ANYONE?” at about 8.15pm UK time.
One crew member from the jet has been rescued by US forces, according to CBS, but an F-15E jet usually has a two-person crew, so one person is believed to be missing.
Iranian media reported that authorities have offered a reward of 10 billion tomans (about £50,000) for anyone who captures a downed US crew member alive.
Reports first came in of the downed fighter jet at around 3pm on Friday, with sources reportedly confirming a search and rescue operation was underway.
US officials, including Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, have repeatedly said Iran’s air defence capabilities have been destroyed in the conflict, posing questions around today’s events.
The circumstances surrounding the downing of the jet are still unclear.
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