Media outlets are protesting new Trump administration Pentagon policies on access to the sprawling facilities, including a requirement that journalists not report unauthorized information.
The restrictions are that latest under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose office has previously booted major news outlets from regular media space inside the complex.
In a memo distributed to media outlets on Friday, the Defense Department, which the Trump administration has renamed the Department of War, said that while it “remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust,” information “must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
Other restrictions are being imposed on where reporters can go within the Pentagon complex without an escort.
Reporters are being asked to sign a form agreeing to the new restrictions.
A spokesperson for The New York Times said, “Asking independent journalists to submit to these kinds of restrictions is at stark odds with the constitutional protections of a free press in a democracy, and a continued attempt to throttle the public’s right to understand what their government is doing. This is yet another step in a concerning pattern of reducing access to what the U.S. military is undertaking at taxpayer expense. Our journalists will continue report the facts deeply and fairly.”
The National Press Club’s president, Mike Balsamo, said that the new policy “is a direct assault on independent journalism at the very place where independent scruity matters: The U.S. military.”
“For generations, Pentagon reporters have provided the public with vital information about how wars are fought, how defense dollars are spent, and how decisions are made that put American lives at risk. That work has only been possible because reporters could seek out facts without needing government permission.”
He added, “If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see. That should alarm every American.”
A Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pete Hegseth, the secretary of war, posted on X, “The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon — the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules — or go home.”
The policy also spells out reasons for denying, revoking and declining to renew credentials, including “any person reasonable determined to pose a security or safety risk.” That includes “unprofessional conduct that might serve to disrupt Pentagon operations.” Specifically cited are “attempts to improperly obtain” classified information or controlled unclassified information.
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has nevertheless clashed with members of the media, including Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin. He and other Trump administration officials railed at the press after the reporting on an initial Defense Intelligence Assessment that cast doubt on the effectiveness of U.S. bombing strikes on enriched uranium sites in Iran.
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