The U.S. Department of Defense is waging a multi-front war against American news media outlets over negative coverage of the war in Iran and unflattering photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The war is being fought on three fronts.
First, Hegseth, who previously worked for Fox News, changed Pentagon press rules last fall to limit reporters’ access to the building and to staff. A federal judge recently ruled the limits unconstitutional, but the Pentagon responded by simply tweaking the old rules and continuing to limit access.
The second front is a battle over “unflattering” photos of Hegseth, who last year installed a makeup studio near the Pentagon press briefing room.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 19, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)
Hegseth appeared at a Pentagon press briefing March 2 to discuss the Iran war, his first press appearance since last June. After photos of Hegseth soon appeared in news outlets worldwide, unnamed DOD officials found some of them “unflattering.” The DOD banned offending photographers from future briefings.
Third, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of news networks that serve “unpatriotic” coverage.
President Donald Trump endorsed Carr’s threat.
“As I used to say in The Apprentice, ‘FIRED,’” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
What’s happening at the Pentagon is only a part of “a grim time for press freedom” during the second Trump administration, reported The New York Times, which filed a lawsuit against the DOD for limiting press access to the Pentagon.
“Mr. Trump has filed defamation lawsuits against news organizations owned by corporations with business before the government and sued or threatened to sue others, including The Times,” the suit explains. “Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded protections for reporters caught up in leak investigations, and the FBI searched a Washington Post reporter’s home.”
Meanwhile, a judge has blocked Trump’s efforts to gut Voice of America, fire its reporters and replace them with content from far-right network One America News.
Members of the Pentagon press corp carry their belongings out of the Pentagon after turning in their press credentials, Wednesday, Oct. 15, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Before Hegseth, registered Pentagon reporters had access to the building and its leaders. But in October, DOD required reporters to sign an agreement restricting their freedom to ask questions or seek information that was not DOD approved.
Asking questions and seeking information is what reporters do, so credentialed reporters from The Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News and many other outlets rejected the agreement and turned in their credentials. They took their belongings and walked out of the building together.
They were quickly replaced by representatives of pro-MAGA outlets, including The Daily Caller (founded by Tucker Carlson), Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire, The Daily Signal (founded by The Heritage Foundation, the group behind Project 2025), Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, RealClear Politics, the Gateway Pundit, and Lindell TV, founded by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder who has spent four years promoting false claims of 2020 election fraud.
On March 20, a federal judge ruled against the DOD limits, writing: “Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation’s security requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is endangered by governmental suppression of political speech. … That principle has preserved the nation’s security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned now.”
“Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation’s security requires a free press and an informed people.”
After the ruling, the DOD reworded its bans and it announced it was closing the Pentagon workspace reporters long had used and would instead house reporters in an annex outside the main building.
“The department always complies with court orders but disagrees with the decision and is pursuing an appeal,” said a DOD spokesman, who claimed following the ruling would be a security risk: “The court removed every provision that allowed the department to screen press credential holders for security risks and every provision that allowed the department to deny, revoke or suspend a press credential based on security considerations.”
The original removal of reporters was conditioned at the time on unwillingness to submit to DOD censorship, not any stated risks to national security.
The Times said it would return to court to seek another ruling against the DOD restrictions.
Presidents long have complained about press coverage of their wars, but Trump has ramped up both hyperbole and threats of retribution as his unpopular war in Iran enters its second month.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addresses senior military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30. (Photo by ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Hegseth has complained that media outlets repeatedly report on the “war widening” when they should instead report on “Iran shrinking.”
Meanwhile, the truth is the Trump administration is considering putting boots on the ground in Iran, which would expand an already unpopular war.
A March 25 Fox News poll showed only 42% of Americans support the war while 58% oppose it. Fox found 77% of Republicans support the war, while only 12% of Democrats do. Only 28% of independent voters support the war, a potential warning sign for the GOP seven months before the November primaries.
As The Times reported:
President Trump is turning to his bully pulpit on Truth Social to accuse “Highly Unpatriotic ‘News’ Organizations” of airing “LIES” about the war and musing about “Charges for TREASON.”
The goal seems to be pressuring journalists to back off critical coverage of the war effort, or to at least encourage the public to second-guess reporting that runs counter to the administration’s preferred narrative.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke the licenses of broadcast TV networks that report “hoaxes” or “distortions.” Carr and his agency have been at war with several broadcast news outlets already, leading to well-known skirmishes with late-night TV talk show hosts such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.
Trump allies in the billionaire Ellis family have taken control of CBS News already and are vying for control of CNN.
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