The retraction is the latest example of government efforts to crack down on critical media facing setbacks in court.
Published July 23, 2026
Lawyers for the U.S. government have withdrawn subpoenas that would have forced three New York Times reporters to testify about their sources for an article about the Air Force One fighter jet gifted to U.S. President Donald Trump from Qatar.
Justice Arun Subramanian accused government lawyers of sloppy legal work in Thursday’s courtroom exchanges.
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“Summoning is not the first thing you do. Summoning is the last thing you do,” said an irritated Subramanian.
“When I see something like this, if this is a civil case, what I usually do is ask the parties to show why sanctions should not be imposed,” he added.
The Trump administration’s efforts to pressure reporters to reveal the sources of their stories and keep proceedings secret were a wake-up call for press freedom in the United States as the president and his allies continue to aggressively target critical media outlets and political opponents.
But such efforts have largely been rejected by courts. The U.S. government recently withdrew similar subpoenas that sought to compel testimony from reporters from the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
Lawyers for the New York Times challenged the legitimacy of the grand jury subpoenas, along with subpoenas for the phone records of several journalists and their relatives. The paper’s editor-in-chief and general counsel sat in the gallery during Thursday’s proceedings.
The government has announced that it is pursuing the person who leaked documents to a reporter stating that President Trump brought back an older Air Force One jet from a summit in Turkiye, rather than a gift from Qatar.
The Secret Service reportedly recommended that the new jet, which the government spent $400 million to modify and upgrade, lacks important security features such as anti-missile capabilities.
Regarding the subpoena request, the Justice Department said, “It does not target reporters. It targets those who leaked confidential information.”
Obtaining information from government sources is a cornerstone of journalism, especially national security reporting, and is considered essential to press freedom. Efforts by the U.S. government under both Democratic and Republican administrations to force reporters to disclose their sources have been seen as efforts to weaken these protections.
