Trump's Trials - DOJ subpoenas New York Times reporters

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

The subpoenas came after New York Times journalists reported on security concerns related to the Qatar-donated Air Force One plane that President Trump has used.Support NPR and hear every episode of��Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's terms. I'm Scott Detrow. The president has both an ability and a willingness to use the power of his office, to think outside the box. Nobody makes a better deal than President Trump. We're going to do better and better and better. Nobody can believe what they're watching. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president. With a focus on ways his administration is pushing the boundaries of presidential power.

Here's the latest from NPR. I'm Michelle Martin. The New York Times is condemning the Trump administration's efforts to get its journalists to testify about their unnamed sources. The Times reported on security concerns over the new Air Force One, a gift from Qatar. Then the Justice Department served the reporters with subpoenas. NPR media correspondent, David Fulkenflick, is covering this story. And he's with us now. Good morning, David. Good morning, Michelle. So, David, we learned over the weekend that the Times reporters got these subpoenas. Well, what have we learned since then? Well, it's one fact, and it's a barn burner. It's that at the direction of the White House, FBI director Cash Patel himself personally oversaw the issuing of these subpoenas and did so from the White House itself, is according to the reporting of the New York Times about these subpoenas to its own reporters. As we've already reported, a senior FBI official called the newspaper to demand that the paper not publish and also then demand the paper reveal its sources. The paper rejected. both of those requests. What was the specific issue that seems to have motivated the administration to do this? So the first one was Wednesday and involved the president leaving Turkey, Ankara, from a, you know, meeting with European leaders there, not on the plane donated by the Qataris to become Air Force One and kidded out, but from the older Air Force One, because the

Secret Service intervened over security concerns. And then there was a subsequent story just detailing some of the concerns about the security features about the new Air Force one that the old one lacks. The president loves this airplane. He's called it the world's most luxurious plane and wanted it. 48 hours after the New York Times published that story about security concerns, those subpoenas were issued. What is the government seeking and why? So the government has asked for journalists involved in the stories to give testimony Wednesday morning before a grand jury. And we've asked the Justice Department, the FBI, the White House, the Department, the FBI, the White House, Department of Homeland Security for comment. They haven't commented to us, but a Justice Department

spokesperson told the New York Times as reporters who were reporting on this own thing in a meta way that it just wants to identify the original sources, not that it's going after the reporting. This, of course, compromises the ability of the New York Times journalists or any journalist who would be subpoenaed to get people to open up and say things off the record. There is a very real fear of retaliation, and that's particularly acute in President Trump's Washington. And how has the Times responded to all of this? Well, from their legal department to their CEO, to their top editor, they've made clear the paper stand behind their reporters. Entirely, they see this as an effort to intimidate news gathering.

They call it unjustified. They've said all the resources of the Times will be behind these reporters. So, David, before we let you go, the administration, the Trump administration is known for haranguing, for pressuring, even insulting journalists. But the Times is calling this an escalation. Why is that? Well, I think it's in part because these subpoenas were issued at home, in part because. because this is usually a last-ditch effort, not the thing you do a day or two after. They haven't identified what the security concerns are. Federal prosecutors did withdraw a pair of subpoenas to

reporters from the Wall Street Journal and the Post last month. But it is seen as an indication of escalating pressure as there are so many different fronts in which battles are being fought in the courts, in regulatory areas, and in other ways against the press by the president and his administration. Do we think they're going to appear before a grand jury in two days? The New York Times isn't saying, but it's basically signaling that it tends to try to get a federal judge to intercede and quash these subpoenas before they happen. The U.S. attorney who issued these, interestingly, is up on the same day on Wednesday for confirmation hearings to become a director of national intelligence. That's NPR media correspondent, David Fulkenflict. David,

thank you. You bet. A note before we go, if you value this show and want to help keep it going, a free and totally easy way to support us is to rate and review Trump's terms on the platform where you listen in a world of algorithms that goes a long way toward helping us reach new listeners. If you have left a review in the past, thank you so much. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.