The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Guardian U.S., Newsmax and others have spurned the Pentagon’s new press restrictions ahead of its Monday deadline.
Matt Murray, the D.C. paper’s executive editor, said the restrictions proposed by the Pete Hegseth-led Pentagon placed “unnecessary restrictions” on the reporting process.
“We will continue to vigorously and fairly report on the policies and position of the Pentagon and officials across the government,” Murray said in a statement.
The Pentagon’s latest guidelines for reporters assigned to the building, unveiled last week, require reporters to acknowledge its policy to not engage in “solicitation” with military officials or risk their access to the building. It was an escalation of its increasingly tight-strung policies that came a week after it unveiled — and news organizations rebuked — a policy that demanded reporters not publish information not authorized for public release.
The Pentagon’s ultimatum reflects the longstanding hostilities between the Trump administration and the press that covers it after a stream of leaks, admonishments and court cases involving the president and media outlets. The White House has tried to exert greater control over the press pool, or the group that travels with the president, by deciding which outlets take part each day. Trump and his officials have also faced off — with varying levels of success — with the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in court over elements of their coverage.
Such a policy has even rankled some conservative news outlets. Newsmax, founded by Trump friend Christopher Ruddy, said on Monday it would not sign the policy, calling it “unnecessary and onerous.”
“We are working in conjunction with other media outlets to resolve the situation,” the network said in a statement.
One America News, a far-right network, has said it would sign the policy. Anchor and former U.S. congressman Matt Gaetz claimed the policy was “grounded in care for our national security.”
Hegseth, the secretary of defense who has strived to purge his cabinet department of leaks after a series of unflattering stories emerged from the Pentagon earlier in his tenure, offered a short response in an X post on Monday to news outlets’ decision not to sign the policy: a hand-waving emoji.
The Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said in a longer statement that news outlets initially expressed “gratitude” as it repeatedly revised its press policies, but they have since “decided to move the goal post and refuse to sign the policy” because of its demand for reports to “acknowledge” what the policy is.
“This has caused reporters to have a full blown meltdown, crying victim online,” Parnell said. “We stand by our policy because it’s what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country.”
CNN first rebuked the policy in a statement last week, saying it would “not be deflected from our duty” to report on the Pentagon “regardless of physical access” to the building. The Times followed suit, saying its journalists would not sign a policy that it believes “threatens to punish” reporters for covering a taxpayer-funded agency.
“Since the policy was first announced, we have expressed concerns that it constrains how journalists can report on the U.S. military, which is funded by nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer dollars annually,” it said in a statement. “The public has a right to know how the government and military are operating.”
The Guardian’s U.S. operation also said on Sunday it would abstain from the new policy, calling it to Semafor “unacceptable restrictions” on the reporting process, and the Atlantic followed suit on Monday.
“We fundamentally oppose the restrictions that the Trump administration is imposing on journalists who are reporting on matters of defense and national security,” Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said in a statement. “The requirements violate our First Amendment rights, and the rights of Americans who seek to know how taxpayer-funded military resources and personnel are being deployed.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association and the State Department Correspondents’ Association released a joint statement condemning the policy, saying they stand in strong solidarity with the Pentagon Press Association as it defends freedom of the press.”
“Access inside the Pentagon has never been about convenience to reporters,” they said. “The public has a right to know how the government is conducting the people’s business. Unfettered reporting on the U.S. military and its civilian leadership provides a service to those in uniform, veterans, their families and all Americans.”
President Trump, too, seemed less inclined last month to bar reporters from their roles.
“Nothing stops reporters,” he said during a press gaggle at the White House last month.
