Trump Subpoenas New York Times Over Air Force One Security

The administration of Donald Trump issued grand jury subpoenas to four New York Times journalists—Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager, and Eric Schmitt—on July 11, 2026. The reporters are ordered to testify in Manhattan regarding an alleged violation of federal criminal law following their reporting on security vulnerabilities in the new Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8 gifted by the royal family of Qatar.

The dispute centers on Trump's departure from a NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye. While the president claimed he switched from the new jet to an older model to allow U.S. troops in the United Kingdom to tour the luxury aircraft, The New York Times reported the swap was advised by the Secret Service. This decision reportedly followed Israeli intelligence regarding a specific Iranian plot to assassinate the president, with officials determining the Qatari-gifted aircraft lacked essential anti-missile defenses and command-and-control capabilities.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung defended the aircraft as state-of-the-art, suggesting the plane swap was a tactic of "distraction and misdirection." Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III noted that an accelerated retrofit timeline prevented all normal security modifications. The Department of Justice, via U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, maintains the investigation targets the leak of classified information rather than the reporters. In response, the newspaper and advocacy groups like the National Press Club condemned the subpoenas as a "brazen act" intended to intimidate the press.