The Trump administration places new limits on press entry at Pentagon : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/339x226+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe9%2F97%2Fb55a96024adba58f138c18f0b9ec%2Fhegseth.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/339x226+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe9%2F97%2Fb55a96024adba58f138c18f0b9ec%2Fhegseth.jpg" class="img" alt="Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pictured with a serious facial expression while listening during an event with President Donald Trump to sign executive orders regarding nuclear energy in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington. Only Hegseth is pictured. He's wearing a blue suit and dark-patterned tie." fetchpriority="high"/> Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth listens throughout an occasion with President Trump to signal govt orders relating to nuclear power within the Oval Workplace of the White Home, Friday, Might 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C.. Evan Vucci/AP cover caption

toggle caption

Evan Vucci/AP The U.S. Protection Division is implementing new restrictions on journalists overlaying the Pentagon. Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth introduced the modifications in a memo Friday. The brand new insurance policies vastly restrict entry for credentialed media whereas contained in the Pentagon advanced in Arlington, Va.

The restrictions ban reporters and different media from many areas of the Pentagon except they're accompanied by an permitted authorities escort. The restricted areas embody the workplaces of Hegseth, his high aides, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees.

Members of the press overlaying the U.S. army have traditionally had entry to those newly restricted areas by way of previous Republican and Democratic presidential administrations.

Hegseth, a former FOX Information host, stated within the memo that the Pentagon is adopting the brand new media insurance policies to guard nationwide safety:

"Whereas the Division stays dedicated to transparency, the Division is equally obligated to guard [classified national intelligence information] and delicate info — the unauthorized disclosure of which might put the lives of U.S. Service members in peril."

The Pentagon Press Affiliation, a corporation unbiased from the U.S. authorities that represents journalists who cowl the army, expressed deep concern in an announcement shared with NPR.

"There is no such thing as a option to sugarcoat it," PPA's board of administrators stated within the assertion. "Right this moment's memo by Secretary Hegseth seems to be a direct assault on the liberty of the press and America's proper to know what its army is doing."

The Nationwide Press Membership is urging the Pentagon to swiftly reverse course. The group's President Mike Balsamo stated in an announcement Friday, "Proscribing entry would not defend nationwide safety. It undermines public belief."

The restrictions are the most recent step by the White Home to restrict entry for journalists and to tightly management the information reporting of journalists overlaying the Trump administration. In January, the Protection Division vacated a number of main information retailers from their devoted workspaces on the Pentagon, together with NPR. The next month, the White Home revoked the White Home Correspondents' Affiliation's potential to resolve how media retailers share protection of President Trump at main occasions the place area is restricted.

Hegseth has confronted criticism after twice sharing delicate army plans on his personal cellphone by way of the Sign messaging app. Then-Nationwide Safety Advisor Michael Waltz mistakenly included a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Journal, in one of many textual content chains.

Hegseth's memo on the brand new restrictions says journalists will likely be required to finish a kind "explaining their duties" and obtain a brand new credential and badge with "clearer" press identifiers within the coming weeks. The discover says credentials will likely be issued beneath "enhanced scrutiny."