From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 6, 2026
Trump talks up rescue of US airmen at Easter egg roll
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Addressing the annual White House Easter egg roll, US President Donald Trump touts the weekend rescue of two US airmen whose plane was shot down in Iran.
“What about the rescue that took place yesterday? That’s something that you rarely see!” Trump says from the White House balcony overlooking the South Lawn where hundreds of VIP egg hunters cheer below.
“When a thing like that happens where a pilot is shot down, in most instances, you’re really not able to go in, because you’ll go in with 200 people and lots of jet fighters and helicopters, and you really don’t have a chance. They get shot down. You lose 200 in order to pick up one. It’s a horrible thing,” Trump says, while flanked by First Lady Melania Trump and an Easter bunny mascot.
“What we did yesterday is we picked up not one, we picked up two! We kept the first one quiet… for about a day, which made it a lot better,” Trump adds.
He also credits Iran as “capable fighters.”
“That enemy is strong — not so strong like they were about a month ago… but we’re soon going to find out,” Trump adds, apparently referring to his Tuesday night ultimatum for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Times of Israel Community.