The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) demands that the Trump administration withdraw subpoenas targeting several reporters from The New York Times after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
The subpoenas were issued by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, asking that the journalists testify “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law,” according to The New York Times. This year the Justice Department issued, and later withdrew, subpoenas that sought to compel reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to testify before a grand jury, according to CPJ.
“The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations, and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.
In some cases, the subpoenas were delivered by federal agents who showed up at reporters’ homes, according to The New York Times. The Times is currently facing a lawsuit by the president filed in 2025 linked to his 2024 presidential candidacy and another lawsuit by the government for alleged employment discrimination. The paper has filed two lawsuits against the Pentagon to assert its First Amendment rights and those of other journalists.