Donald Trump believes the Pentagon should not dictate what is and isn’t reported by journalists — or so it appears. While speaking to reporters Sunday as he prepared to head to the Arizona memorial for Charlie Kirk, Trump seemed to side with the press.
A reporter asked, “Should the Pentagon be part of deciding what reporters can report on?” to which the president answered, “No, I don’t think so. Nothing stops reporters. You know that.”
It’s unclear if Trump is familiar with the 17-page memorandum issued by the Pentagon this week that lays out new guidelines for reporters with credentials at the headquarters of the Department of Defense.
The New York Times issued a statement addressing the memo soon after it was published.
“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,” the statement began.
“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 to report the facts deeply and fairly.”
Though the Department of Defense insists it “remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust,” the document also warned that “information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
