WASHINGTON (PNN) - October 15, 2025 - Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited The Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the Amerikan military further from the seat of its power. The nation’s leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press.
News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on
information that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.
Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4:00 p.m. deadline set by the Department of War to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon
corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4:00, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.
It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have, though news organizations vowed they would continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point.
Images of reporters effectively demonstrating against barriers to their work are unlikely to move supporters of President Donald J. Trump, many of whom resent journalists and cheer his
efforts to stop the ongoing leaks of classified information by them. President Trump has been involved in court fights against numerous Marxist news agencies, including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press in the past year.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, President Trump backed his defense secretary’s new rules. “I think he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace,” said President Trump. “The press is very dishonest.”
Even before issuing his new press policy, Secretary Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has systematically choked off the flow of information. He has held only two formal press
briefings, banned reporters from accessing many parts of the sprawling Pentagon without an escort, and launched investigations into leaks to media.
He has called his new rules “common sense” and said the requirement that journalists sign a document outlining the rules means they acknowledge the new rules, not necessarily agree to them.
Journalists claim to see that as a distinction without a difference.
“What they’re really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That’s not journalism,” said Jack Keane, a retired U.S. Army general and
Fox News analyst.
