Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists over new Air Force One reporting

Donald Trump disembarks from the Qatar-gifted Air Force One after his first flight on the aircraft, in Bismarck, North Dakota, on 1 July 2026. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Donald Trump disembarks from the Qatar-gifted Air Force One after his first flight on the aircraft, in Bismarck, North Dakota, on 1 July 2026. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists over new Air Force One reporting Outlet said journalists subpoenaed to testify before grand jury after story detailed security concerns with Qatar-gifted plane The Trump administration has issued subpoenas to several New York Times journalists after the newspaper reported on security concerns with the president’s new plane, according to the outlet . The Times said its journalists were subpoenaed on Friday by the US justice department to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan five days later, marking the latest effort by the Trump administration to compel testimony from journalists under the threat of penalty. Agents delivered some of the subpoenas to the Times reporters at their homes, the paper added. US justice department spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday about the subpoenas. Trump switches back to flying on older Air Force One for England trip instead of new Qatari jet Read more Press freedom advocates, meanwhile, expressed consternation over the subpoenas. A statement from the Washington DC-based National Press Club said federal prosecutors’ “decision to subpoena journalists at the New York Times should alarm every American because it threatens the public’s constitutional right to an independent press”. “The National Press Club calls on the justice department to immediately withdraw these subpoenas and reaffirm a principle that has long distinguished the United States: a free and independent press serves the people, not the government,” the organization continued. Times lawyer David McCraw said in his own statement that “the appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the [US] constitution and the press freedom it protects”. The airplane at the center of the Times report was provided by Qatar as a $400m gift. It took Donald Trump to North Dakota on its 1 July maiden voyage, and it more recently flew the president to a Nato summit in Turkey. But Trump then flew part of the way back to the US on an older-model Air Force One presidential jet. That happened amid the collapse of a ceasefire with Iran, which shares a border with Turkey and which the US and Israel launched war against in late February. Amid speculation that the president’s Qatari-gifted jet lacked certain security systems, the Times – citing anonymous sources – then reported that the new Air Force One lacked antimissile capabilities as well as other protective features that older models are equippe