A bombshell New York Times report is shining light on a highly classified Navy SEAL operation inside North Korea during the Trump presidency—and the timing of the leak looks far more political than coincidental.
According to the report, in early 2019 a SEAL team infiltrated North Korea in an effort to compromise Kim Jong Un’s secure nuclear communications channel. The mission was high-risk, high-reward. President Trump had launched bold, unprecedented diplomacy with Kim, but without accurate intelligence, the U.S. could not negotiate from strength. Conventional methods had failed, so a special operations team was tasked with inserting advanced surveillance technology directly into the regime’s communications line—essentially a modern-day “Ivy Bells.”
The operation was approved by President Trump after extensive briefings. A nuclear-powered submarine carried SEAL Delivery Vehicles, delivering the team to shore under extreme conditions. The mission unfolded with precision until a North Korean boat appeared directly above the SEALs’ equipment, leading to a deadly confrontation. The SEALs aborted the mission and exfiltrated without leaving evidence—at least until now.
The glaring question is not whether the SEALs carried out their duty—they did—but why this story was leaked years later, and why now. For decades, Americans have understood that special operations take place in the shadows to keep our nation safe. Revealing tactics, techniques, and capabilities doesn’t help the United States—it only helps hostile powers like North Korea. By exposing the operation, the leak gives Kim Jong Un valuable intelligence he likely did not have. As the report itself admits, “The SEALs punctured the boat crew’s lungs with knives to make sure their bodies would sink.” That means Pyongyang may not have known what happened until the Times spelled it out for them.
What does that serve? Certainly not U.S. security. Instead, it undermines Trump’s foreign policy achievements. The Times framed the operation as reckless, even suggesting it violated laws requiring Congressional notification, and labeled the dead as “civilians” without proof. But anyone familiar with the regime knows North Korean civilians don’t float around in wetsuits in the middle of the night. These were almost certainly military or regime assets. The narrative being crafted is clear: Trump broke the rules, killed innocents, and endangered America.
This is the same pattern we saw throughout Trump’s presidency. Sensitive leaks—almost always damaging to him—flowed to legacy media outlets to weaken his position. The fact that this report is surfacing now, just as Trump’s comeback campaign accelerates, is no coincidence. The target isn’t the SEALs. It’s Trump.
In reality, the operation showed the former president’s ability to walk and chew gum at the same time: publicly pursue diplomacy while quietly wielding strength behind the scenes. It was gutsy leadership—the kind Washington elites rarely understand.
But the deeper scandal is the leak itself. Someone inside government handed America’s enemies valuable information to score political points. That’s not journalism—it’s sabotage. If this country is serious about national security, there must be a relentless effort to find whoever leaked this mission and put them behind bars. Nothing less will protect America’s warriors and future presidents from the same destructive games.
it’s not just sabotage, it is treason to give aid and comfort to the enemy. The leaker needs to be found, tried, convicted and publicity hung as a warning to the others.