Washington-based US District Judge James Boasberg said in an order on Wednesday that the administration could also invoke the state secrets doctrine, which protects sensitive national security information from being disclosed in civil litigation, and explain why it is doing so rather than provide the details.

Boasberg s order came after the administration said he was improperly intruding on presidential discretion to handle sensitive diplomatic and national security matters, the latest escalation in a confrontation between the executive and judicial branches of the U.S. government.

The judge wrote that he was seeking the information not as part of a "judicial fishing expedition," as the Trump administration had asserted, but rather "to determine if the Government deliberately flouted its Orders issued on March 15, 2025, and, if so, what the consequences should be."

Boasberg said the government now had until noon on Thursday either to provide more details of the flights or invoke the state secrets doctrine. That was a partial win for the Trump administration, which had asked for a delay to his order on Tuesday requiring that it provide more details on the flights by Wednesday at noon.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.