Donald Trump reportedly handed his acting Attorney General a collection of news articles about potential conflict with Iran, marked with a simple sticky note bearing the word “Treason.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the former president expressed his intense frustration to Todd Blanche last month over these leaks, which led the Justice Department to aggressively seek the sources behind sensitive national security reports.
For years, subpoenaing journalists has been considered a last resort, only used after all other investigative methods have been tried. However, former Attorney General Pam Bondi removed Biden-era protections last year, making it easier to pursue such actions.
One particular story that incited Trump’s anger was an April 7 exposé by the New York Times. It revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had secretly urged Trump to initiate the war during a private Situation Room meeting.
The article also noted that Vice President JD Vance cautioned that the war might fracture Trump’s political base, while CIA Director John Ratcliffe dismissed Netanyahu’s proposal as “farcical,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio harshly criticized it as “bulls***.”
The Wall Street Journal was issued a subpoena related to a February 23 article. This report disclosed that General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had warned Trump about the potential dangers of a prolonged military engagement in Iran.
Axios and the Washington Post published similar stories the same day.
Trump launched the war five days later, on February 28.
Donald Trump speaks flanked by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during a press briefing after an assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25
Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida
Smoke rises from the area after it was targeted in attacks as a series of explosions are heard in Tehran, Iran on March 1
Subpoenaing reporters has for decades been treated as a nuclear option, deployed only after every other investigative avenue is exhausted, but former AG Pam Bondi shredded Biden-era protections last year, clearing a path for the crackdown
The President was also incensed by media coverage of the massive rescue operation launched after an American fighter jet was shot down over Iran on April 3, leaving two airmen missing behind enemy lines.
Trump believed that reports that a second airman remained missing after the first had been rescued would jeopardize the mission.
‘We’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, “national security; give it up or go to jail,”‘ Trump said at a news conference.
A White House official told the Daily Mail that the administration was ‘rightfully frustrated by illegal leaks of classified information which risked operational security and American lives.’
The rescue operation had been reported by numerous outlets, leaving it unclear which one Trump was threatening.
Trump ousted Bondi in early April, incensed that she had failed to successfully prosecute a string of his political enemies.
Blanche, who grew close to the President while serving as his defense attorney during the New York hush money trial, took over as acting AG and has publicly argued Trump has ‘a right and a duty’ to influence the Justice Department’s criminal probes.
Asked about Trump’s threat over the downed jet, Blanche told a press conference: ‘If that means sending a subpoena to the reporter, that’s exactly what we should do, and that’s exactly what we will be doing.’
Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance sit in the Situation Room as they monitor the mission that took out three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, at the White House on June 21, 2025 in Washington, DC
A yacht sails past a plume of smoke rising from the port of Jebel Ali following a reported Iranian strike in Dubai on March 1
Trump, Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles at Mar-a-Lago on February 28 as the US launched strikes on Iran
Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system are pictured over Tel Aviv on February 28
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In response to the Journal’s report on Tuesday, Blanche posted on X: ‘Prosecuting leakers who share our nation’s secrets with reporters, in turn risking our national security and the lives of our soldiers, is a priority for this administration.
‘Any witness, whether a reporter or otherwise, who has information about these criminals should not be surprised if they receive a subpoena about the illegal leaking of classified material.’
The leaks crackdown has escalated on multiple fronts.
Federal agents stormed a Washington Post reporter’s home in January as part of an investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of smuggling classified intelligence reports about US military movements in Venezuela.
The raid stunned former federal prosecutors, as the Justice Department already had enough evidence to charge the engineer.
A judge in February rejected prosecutors’ requests to search devices seized from the reporter’s home, ruling that the court would conduct its own review.
Dow Jones, the Journal’s publisher, said in a statement: ‘The government’s subpoenas to The Wall Street Journal and our reporters represent an attack on constitutionally protected newsgathering. We will vigorously oppose this effort to stifle and intimidate essential reporting.’
A Justice Department spokesman said: ‘In all circumstances, the Department of Justice follows the facts and applies the law to identify those committing crimes against the United States.’
A DOJ official told the Daily Mail that the investigations were not targeting journalists but the leakers who threaten national security and the lives of US troops.
The New York Times and the White House declined to comment.
