The New York Times filed a motion Thursday to quash Department of Justice subpoenas targeting reporters who covered security shortcomings in a Boeing 747 gifted to President Donald Trump by the government of Qatar.
The subpoenas seek to compel testimony from a group of Times journalists whose reporting disclosed that the Qatari aircraft lacked standard security features expected on a presidential transport.
Trump accepted the jet as a temporary replacement for Air Force One, the official fleet operated by the U.S. Air Force, amid a prolonged delay in delivering a contracted replacement.
The Times, in its motion, argues the DOJ subpoenas are an improper effort to force journalists to identify confidential government sources, a move press-freedom advocates say strikes at the core of First Amendment protections for newsgathering.
The Justice Department has not publicly commented on the filings. No federal prosecutor has been named in connection with the subpoena action.
The motion marks one of the most direct confrontations between the Trump administration and a major American news organization over source protection since Trump returned to office in January 2025.
A federal court is expected to schedule a hearing on the Times motion in the coming weeks.