The Pentagon announced Friday that it will only allow journalists access to its facilities if they agree not to publish certain information, an unprecedented move that gives the Defense Department broad control over the content disseminated.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell explained in an e-mail sent to various newsrooms that reporters must sign a note pledging not to disclose classified information or documents considered sensitive, even if they are not officially marked as secret.
According to the communication, the new rule will take effect within two to three weeks and will apply to all media covering the War Department headquarters.
“The press doesn’t run the Pentagon, the people do,” declared Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in a Friday night posting on X.
Trump fourth freedom? Journalists are conditioned
The secretary added that if journalists do not carry identification “they can go home”.
In May, Hegseth further restricted access amid the crisis over the controversy of the leak of U.S. attacks in Yemen in a Signal group.
This week, the Trump Administration took action against the press, such as President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the New York Times, a media outlet he accuses of defaming him in 2024.
In addition, according to Agencia EFE, the U.S. government reportedly exerted public pressure on the ABC television network to cancel comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show indefinitely this week, following his opinions on the Republican reaction to the murder of ultraconservative activist Charlie Kirk.
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