‘The Framework Is Everything’: Advocacy Blitz Begins to Shape Federal Standard on AI

Supreme Court Clears Way for Dismissal of Case Against Trump Ally Steve Bannon

‘No Man Left Behind’: Trump Celebrates Daring Easter Rescue of Downed US Pilot in Iran

Taxpayer-Funded Dog Research Faces New Scrutiny With Push to Cut NIH Funding

Obama Judge Halts Trump Effort to End Parole for Hundreds of Thousands

House Passes Legislation to Combat Mexican Government’s Seizure of American-Owned Port

Judge, Longtime Thorn for Trump, Sides With Administration

Appeals Court Hands Trump Big Win on Detaining Illegal Immigrants

Reclaiming the Lunar High Ground

The Space Race Is Back: NASA Prepares for Liftoff of Deep Space Exploration Crew

China’s Military Went Silent Around Taiwan for First Time in Years. Why?

Congressman Asks Trump to Press China to Release Prisoners

Members Confused Why British Monarch Set to Address Congress 250 Years After America Dumped Him

‘Hollywood for Ugly People’ Finally Gets a Taste of Celebrity Treatment

GOP Rising Star Backs Paxton’s Senate Bid

A GOP Senator’s Fight for Life Continues on Capitol Hill

Democrats Sue to Stop Trump’s Latest Election Integrity Effort

Trump Mail-In Ballot Order Sets Up Battle With States

4 Key Election Law Battles Hitting Court Rooms During 2026 Midterms

Maryland Loves My Ratty Old Rug More Than It Loves Me

Where Do Dem Presidential Favorites Stand on Israel?

 PoliticsSecurityNews

Trump Claims Gold Star Families Told Him to ‘Finish the Job’ in Iran

Citing ‘Echo Chamber’ on Iran, Trump Counterterrorism Chief Resigns

International Commentary

‘It’s a Very Surreal War’

Conservative and Proud: Is the Right Representing Women? 

Girl Boss vs. Trad Wife: Forced to Choose?

Beyond the Oyster Fork: An Etiquette Expert’s Tips for ‘Relationships, Work, and Life’

Is the Iran Operation ‘America First’?

If Donald Trump Did What Obama Did, Media Would Cheer—So Why the Outrage Now?

Victor Davis Hanson: Trump Could Crush Iran, So Why Doesn’t He?

The Democrats Have Descended Into Utter Nihilism

Victor Davis Hanson: The New Democratic Party

‘No Man Left Behind’: Trump Celebrates Daring Easter Rescue of Downed US Pilot in Iran

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell / @TheElizMitchell

Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell is the White House Correspondent for "The Daily Signal." Send her an email.

President Donald Trump and members of his administration celebrated Easter Sunday’s successful operation to rescue an air force officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran last week. 

“Despite incoming fire and unforgiving conditions, our troops brought every American home,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during a press briefing Monday. “No American lives were lost.” 

After the officer’s fighter jet was shot down, the injured officer survived by climbing to higher ground, treating his own wounds, and contacting American forces to request rescue. 

“We immediately mobilized a massive operation to retrieve him from the mountain holdout, and he kept going higher and higher,” Trump said. “The mountain kept getting rougher and rougher and really, very, very hard to find.”

Because thousands of Iranians were searching for the pilot, the United States “executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airman,” CIA director John Ratcliffe said. 

On Saturday morning, the U.S. confirmed the airman was alive and hidden in a mountain crevice, “still invisible to the enemy, but not to the CIA,” Ratcliffe said. 

The United States deployed three helicopters to extract the American pilot. He was rescued at midnight Eastern time on Easter Sunday. An air armada protected the rescue team, including tactical drones, strike aircraft, and more. 

“God was watching us,” Trump said. “Well, it was Easter. We were in Easter territory.” 

Trump praised the military for carrying out the operation without any casualties. He said he will “never forget the extraordinary risk taken by the warriors that we send into battle.” 

“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, destroyed all threats, and exited Iranian territory while taking no casualties.”

Ratcliffe said he was honored to serve under a president who lives out the motto, “No man left behind.” 

“We’ve seen it against the cartels in the Western Hemisphere, and we’re seeing it every day in Operation Epic Fury, including this mission to rescue an aviator buried deep behind enemy lines,” Ratcliffe said, “because it is the unique tradition of the U.S. armed forces that we leave no man or woman behind.” 

“Peace through strength” is not a slogan, Hegseth said, but “a doctrine that saves American lives.”

“His unwavering commitment to rebuilding our military and restoring the warrior spirit has paid dividends in missions just like this one,” Hegseth said. “Under this command, America progresses power with confidence and brings our people home with victory. And that continues today.”

‘MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS’: Trump Announces Joint US-Israel Operation Against Iran

Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s ‘Wars of Reckoning’ Send a Message to Iran, China, and Beyond

Pentagon to Deploy 82nd Airborne to Middle East  

Read the first chapter of The Woketopus right now for FREE

Today, even with President Trump’s victory, leftist elites have their tentacles in every aspect of our government.

The Daily Signal’s own Tyler O’Neil exposes this leftist cabal in his new book, The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.

In this book, O’Neil reveals how the Left’s NGO apparatus pursues its woke agenda, maneuvering like an octopus by circumventing Congress and entrenching its interests in the federal government.

You can read the first chapter of this new book for FREE in this eBook, The Woketopus: Chapter One using the secure link below.

The Tony Kinnett Cast

The Daily Signal Podcast

© 2025 The Daily Signal Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

We use cookies on our website. By using our website, you consent to cookies.  Learn More .  

© The Daily Signal