The Defense Department is set to play host to right-wing media at the Pentagon early next week for its first in-person press event and briefing since the mainstream press corps walked out in October rather than sign the department’s new press policy, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Shortly after the mass exodus of established Pentagon journalists, the Defense Department said a group of right-wing media outlets and influencers — who had not regularly covered the Pentagon under the Trump administration — would sign the new press policy, which prohibits soliciting any information that the government doesn’t authorize. Those outlets include the Gateway Pundit, the Post Millennial, Human Events and the National Pulse, along with far-right activist Laura Loomer.
Many of the new signatories are based outside the Washington area and have not picked up their badges. The events, to run Monday through Wednesday, give them a chance to receive their credentials and interact with department officials. Press secretary Kingsley Wilson is scheduled to conduct a briefing for the new media crew, which is then set to have meet-and-greet and press gaggle with Hegseth.
Loomer confirmed that she would attend. Turning Point USA, the Daily Signal, and Tim Pool’s Timcast are also among those invited to attend, according to people familiar with the matter. The Defense Department and representatives of those outlets did not respond to requests for comment.
Pool previously had a lucrative contract with a group called Tenet Media that the Justice Department said in an indictment was operated by Russian government-funded media outlet RT. Pool was not charged and has said he didn’t know about the outlet’s ownership.
Loomer, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has frustrated some in the administration for her public criticisms of high-ranking defense and national security officials who she argues are disloyal to Trump — sometimes succeeding in getting them ousted. Loomer has called herself “anti-Islam,” and has urged a “national crackdown on Islam” in recent days after an Afghan national was charged in an armed attack on two National Guard members that left one dead and another in critical condition.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has largely shied from the mainstream press during his time as secretary. While he said in a statement in February that he would help usher in “the most transparent administration ever,” formal press briefings have been scarce.
Wilson, the Pentagon press secretary, has conducted only two off-camera gaggles with reporters since she joined the Defense Department at the start of the administration, most recently on Aug. 14, and has never briefed the press on camera. The last on-camera briefing was held by chief spokesman Sean Parnell on July 2. Hegseth, for his part, has engaged with reporters on camera during trips but most recently held an on-camera briefing with the press on June 26.
Before the new press policy and the resultant walkout, Hegseth and his staff spent months tightening restrictions on Pentagon reporters while limiting military personnel from directly communicating with the press. In February, Hegseth removed several major news organizations from their dedicated offices at the Pentagon to afford space for right-wing outlets OAN, Newsmax and Breitbart, as well as the left-leaning HuffPost. The briefing room, typically available for reporters to use for TV appearances, was also made inaccessible.
One America News is the only media outlet that previously regularly reported on the Pentagon in person and signed the document. OAN reporter Alexandra Ingersoll was granted a rare interview with Hegseth, which broadcast on Nov. 20.
“The Defense Department has avoided questions from the press, all while U.S. troops are operating around the globe, the Pentagon has conducted legally questionable military strikes that have killed people in international waters and the administration has deployed troops to American cities,” the Military Reporters and Editors, an association supporting military journalists, wrote in an October statement denouncing the press policy.
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