In a new attack on the press, the Trump administration subpoenas New York Times journalists after reports about Air Force One

Donald Trump’s government launched an attack on press freedom in the United States. The Justice Department has issued subpoenas for several New York Times reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan. The measure, which included federal agents delivering notifications directly to professionals’ homes, was taken to force the disclosure of sources under the threat of legal penalties.

The White House’s offensive comes after the newspaper published reports revealing security breaches in the new Air Force One, the American presidential plane. The articles point out that the new aircraft, a luxury Boeing 747 donated as a gift by the Qatari government in 2025, does not have anti-missile capabilities nor the protection features present in older models in the fleet.

The subpoena of journalists by the Trump administration is not an isolated case and adds to recent episodes of persecution of the media, such as attempts to criminalize channel professionals Wall Street Journal e Washington Postin addition to the indictment of journalists who covered popular protests against Donald Trump.

Revelations about the vulnerability of the new presidential plane took on critical aspects during Trump’s return from the NATO summit in Türkiye. The president used the model donated by the Qataris on his outward journey, but had to travel part of the way back aboard an old Air Force One, at the request of the Secret Service, which was concerned about the American president’s safety.

The decline in security occurred precisely at the time that the ceasefire with Iran collapsed, a country that borders Turkey and against which the US and Israel have been at war since the end of February.

Publicly, Trump tried to minimize the episode on his social media and statements to journalists. The president claimed that he used the old aircraft out of “nostalgia” and denied any threat coming from Tehran, although he joked: “I have a threat all the time. I’m number one on their list.”

The White House also came out in defense of the US$400 million plane, calling it “state-of-the-art” and justifying alternative routes as “distraction and diversion strategies”.

The lawyer for New York TimesDavid McCraw, stated that the presence of federal agents at reporters’ doors “should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the freedom of the press.”

In Washington, the National Press Club issued a statement demanding that the Justice Department withdraw the subpoenas immediately. The organization warned that the action of federal prosecutors threatens the constitutional right to an independent press and concluded: “A free press serves the people, not the government.”