July 11, 2026, 4:07 p.mJuly 11, 2026, 4:07 p.m
After reporting on alleged security concerns with Donald Trump’s new presidential plane, several New York Times journalists received subpoenas from the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan, according to the newspaper. The reporters are expected to testify before a grand jury next week. The only reason given in the summonses is an unspecified violation of federal criminal law.
The federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan could not immediately be reached for confirmation. The US Department of Justice has been contacted. According to the New York Times, the reporters received the subpoenas on Friday. Some of them were personally delivered to people’s residences by federal officials.
Safety concerns with AF1
The newspaper described the action as an attempt to intimidate independent media. “The appearance of federal officials on the doorsteps of news reporters should shock the conscience of every American who believes in the Constitution and the freedom of the press it protects,” the newspaper’s attorney, David McCraw, said in the report.
The four journalists reported this week, citing anonymous sources, that Trump flew from the NATO summit in Turkey to the British Mildenhall air base on the old Air Force One for security reasons on the advice of the Secret Service. There he switched to the new machine donated by Qatar.
The president himself had previously fueled speculation in Ankara about the safety of the new jumbo jet. When asked why he wasn’t leaving on the new plane, he replied that he was “number 1 on Iran’s death list.”
In another report, the newspaper wrote that the new aircraft does not yet have all the security and defense systems of the previous presidential aircraft. However, the government and Trump himself denied that safety concerns were the reason for the aircraft change. Trump said several times that the stopover was to show military members the new machine.
Trump has increasingly taken action against the media since the beginning of his second term in office. The Justice Department had already tried this year to force statements from journalists from the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post in investigations into revelations. After legal resistance from the media companies, these subpoenas were later withdrawn. (sda/dpa)