Trump calls daring rescue of downed U.S. airman in Iran 'Easter miracle'

In a dramatic moment on NBC's Meet The Press, President Trump sent a text to the show's moderator, Kristen Welker, sharing inside details about the mission to save the second crew member of an F-15E that was shot down by Iran last week, and calling the risky rescue an "Easter miracle."

The crew member, a weapons specialist, was one of two aboard the fighter jet that was shot down over Iran on Friday. The jet's pilot was rescued by U.S. forces relatively quickly on Friday. But the second crew member, who hasn't been identified yet, managed to eject from the aircraft and spent nearly two days behind enemy lines before U.S. rescuers were able to save him.

"The rescue was an Easter Miracle," Trump said in a message Welker reported he sent to her by text message on Sunday morning.  "The enemy was large and violent. The rescuers were brilliant, strong, decisive, and as cool as anyone can be. The Iranians thought they had him, but it wasn't even close, and remember, we got two, but couldn't talk about the first in that it would have highlighted that there was a second. Such a rescue has never happened before in so violent an enemy territory. It is usually not done because it is considered not doable. Such a great military," Trump concluded. "Like no other.

According to The Wall Street Journal, 100 special forces members were involved in the daring operation to extract the downed airman and safely return him to U.S. soil, as part of a plan put into action as soon as the Pentagon was able to identify the crew member. 

“When airmen go down, you can’t get them in very tough countries, like in Vietnam,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal. “He was able to climb, climb up as wounded as he was, he was able to climb up into a crevice.” And there he hid, injured, until the special forces were able to reach him on Sunday. Trump told the Journal the downed airman could hear the special forces searching for him.

Also searching for him were members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corporation. The Iranian regime had put a $60,000 reward on the downed airman's head, according to ABC News, making the task of recovering him all the more urgent. In the end, the special forces were able to find their man and safely remove him from enemy territory. "WE GOT HIM!" Trump declared on Truth Social. 

On the same episode of Meet The Press, Jeh Johnson, former Homeland Security Secretary during the Obama administration, put into perspective the scope of the rescue mission. "This operation for the first pilot and the second pilot is a remarkable exercise, demonstration of U.S. military courage, technology, power. I would encourage the president and the secretary of defense, consistent with operational security, share as much of that with the American public so that the American public can appreciate what goes into- this kind of operation was more complicated than the Bin Laden operation, for example."

Below, watch Welker's dramatic reading of Trump's text message on air.