THE US Department of Justice has subpoenaed four New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One — a dramatic escalation of President Donald Trump’s campaign against the legacy media.

The new jet, a gift from the US ally that the administration claims to have spent under $400 million (£298m) to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week.

The Times reported on Wednesday July 8 that Mr Trump flew to Turkey for last week’s Nato summit on the new plane, but left the country on an older Air Force One jet “as a security precaution related to the resumption of hostilities with Iran, according to people briefed on the plans, who said the change came at the urging of the Secret Service.”

The swap, the paper said, “deepens questions about whether the new plane, which the president had pressed to be ready as soon as possible, was retrofitted with sufficient security measures over the last year.

“Lawmakers and some officials have raised concerns about whether the expedited timeline allowed for the addition of an advanced missile defence system and other modifications used to protect the president.”

The journalists who worked on the story — Julian E Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt — were given subpoenas on Friday. Some were delivered at their homes.

The subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in New York City this week, and were issued by FBI director Kash Patel following a meeting at the White House on Friday about the story, according to an anonymous source for the Associated Press.

The US Justice Department said that the “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”

The Times says that before the story was published, a senior FBI official contacted the paper asking that the article be held, citing security issues. But the official declined to explain the security issue and asked the paper to disclose its sources for the story. The Times refused and went ahead with the story.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the constitution and the press freedom it protects,” David McCraw, a lawyer for the Times, said in a statement.

Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said Mr Trump’s “war on the press is looking for another victim.”

He said in a statement that the subpoenas “break from longstanding Justice Department practice to protect the public interest and press independence by requiring prosecutors to only seek information from reporters as a last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted.”

Earlier this year, the Justice Department issued subpoenas seeking to compel testimony from reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. In both cases, the department later withdrew the subpoenas, though.

Adam Steinbaugh, senior attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said Friday’s subpoenas and the prospect of “hauling reporters before grand juries sends a chilling message to journalists and whistleblowers alike: Watch what you say, or expect a knock on the door.”

“These tactics are becoming more common,” Mr Steinbaugh said in a statement. “That doesn’t make them normal.”