President Donald Trump on Monday hailed the rescue of two American airmen downed behind enemy lines in Iran as a “historic” mission while issuing a blunt warning to Tehran: reach a deal before Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. ET deadline or face total destruction.

“This is a rescue that’s very historic,” Trump told reporters at a White House press conference. “It’ll go down to the books.”

Trump described the incident as beginning late Thursday night, when an F-15E fighter jet went down deep inside Iranian territory during Operation Epic Fury. Both crew members were successfully recovered.

Trump on the rescued airman: “He was injured quite badly and climbed into the treacherous mountain terrain and started climbing toward a higher altitude… he scaled cliff faces, bleeding rather profusely.”

“The second rescue mission involved 155 aircraft,” Trump said. “We were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge. We wanted to have them think he was in a different location because they had a vast military force out there. Thousands of people were looking.”

Trump added: “Somebody leaked something, which will hopefully find that leaker. We’re working very hard to find that leaker. They basically said that we have one and there’s somebody missing. We’re going to go to media company who released it and say national security, give it up or go to jail.”

Trump on Operation Epic Fury: “Over the past 37 days, America’s armed forces have carried out more than 10,000 combat flights over Iran, striking more than 13,000 targets… It’s a record that is unparalleled in the history of military air operations.”

But Trump quickly pivoted from praising the rescue to delivering a stark warning.

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” he said.

The remarks came hours after Trump acknowledged that Iran had submitted a “significant proposal” but characterized it as “not good enough,” and as War Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed an escalating air campaign.

“By the way, per the president’s direction, today will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation,” Hegseth said, speaking just before Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan “Raizin'” Caine addressed reporters. “Tomorrow, even more than today. And then Iran has a choice.”

Hegseth did not soften the message. “Choose wisely, because this president does not play around,” he said. “You can ask Soleimani, you can ask Maduro. You can ask Khamenei.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)