US Justice Department withdraws subpoenas for New York Times reporters over Air Force One security story

US President Donald Trump's Justice Department will withdraw subpoenas issued to reporters from The New York Times (NYT), prosecutors said at a hearing on Thursday.

The Justice Department issued the subpoenas demanding that NYT journalists disclose sources who contributed to one of the paper's reports on security concerns about the president flying on a Qatari-donated Air Force One.

The report said the luxury plane lacked certain security countermeasures, including anti-missile defenses.

The Trump administration in turn said the NYT coverage posed a "substantial national security concern."

Lawyers representing the newspaper had challenged the Trump administration's requests for journalists' phone records and grand jury testimony, calling it an attempt at press intimidation.

Federal prosecutors had agreed at a hearing before District Judge Arun Subramanian to "unilaterally withdraw the subpoenas at this time," the NYT said.

NYT: government 'violated the 1st Amendment'

NYT lawyers said that these actions "violate the most basic First Amendment protections for newsgathering activity."

"They represent the latest salvo in an escalating series of attacks on journalists to intimidate them from engaging in reporting that the Trump Administration openly detests," the lawyers added.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomed the conclusion of the case, saying it represented a victory not just for the NYT but also for "every journalist who relies on confidential sources to report in the public interest."

"The court has reaffirmed that the government cannot use its legal powers to intimidate reporters or erode the independence of the press," RSF said.

What did the NYT say about the new Air Force One?

The controversial aircraft was a gift from Qatar's royal family to Trump last year.

The journalists' stories were prompted by the fact that Trump, who flew to Turkey earlier this month on the new Air Force One, departed the country on one of the older Air Force One jets, which took him to a Royal Air Force base in England.

From there, the president swapped back to the new Air Force One for the flight back to the US.

In its reports, the New York Times said the Secret Service had urged the switch in Turkey amid security concerns linked to the collapse of a shaky ceasefire with neighboring Iran.

The reports said that the new Air Force One lacks some of the sophisticated security features of the older aircraft, such as antimissile defense.

Trump has denied that security concerns were a factor in his use of the two different planes.