Hegseth Shrugs Off Media Outrage Over New Pentagon Press Rules

War Secretary Pete Hegseth isn’t backing down. On Monday, Hegseth made it clear that the days of freewheeling press access inside the Pentagon are over, as multiple mainstream media outlets publicly rejected a new press credentialing policy only to be met with a wave and a shrug from the Trump-appointed Secretary.

The new policy, laid out in a May memo, states that journalists must sign a revised in-brief agreement outlining information security, physical access controls, and compliance expectations. In short, it aligns the Pentagon with every other U.S. military installation, where such restrictions have long been standard procedure.

“Pentagon access is a privilege, not a right,” Hegseth wrote bluntly, following the outcry. “Press no longer roams free; Press must wear visible badge; Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts. DONE.”

Despite the measured language in the policy, major media outlets erupted in protest:

• The Washington Post claimed the rules “undercut First Amendment protections.”

• The Atlantic called them a violation of journalists’ rights.

• The New York Times alleged the Pentagon was threatening “ordinary news gathering.”

• Even Newsmax and The Wall Street Journal issued statements objecting to the new measures.

But here’s what none of them want to admit: the Pentagon has been a revolving door for national security leaks, political propaganda, and media manipulation for years. The idea that reporters are entitled to unfiltered access to sensitive defense operations is not only absurd — it’s dangerous.

These changes are common sense:

• No more unsupervised wandering in secure areas.

• Mandatory visible credentials.

• No using press status as a cover to incite or solicit criminal activity.

That last point may sound extreme, but remember in 2020, multiple journalists were caught coordinating with activist groups, using their positions to shield unlawful behavior from scrutiny. The “activist reporter” is no longer a conspiracy theory; it’s a job title.

Hegseth’s response to the hysteria? Two waving hand emojis a digital brush-off to a media class used to writing its own rules.

And frankly, he’s right to do it.

The same outlets now crying censorship are the ones that:

• Ignored antisemitic campus mobs until it was politically safe to speak up

• Spread misinformation about wars they cheered on under the Obama-Biden foreign policy disasters

• Mocked military whistleblowers who exposed real internal threats

Now they’re offended that the War Department wants some basic ground rules?

Let’s be clear: the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, not unfettered access to national security facilities. The media is free to report but it doesn’t have a right to stroll into the Pentagon and operate without oversight.

Secretary Hegseth is doing what no defense official has done in years putting the security of the country above the feelings of the press. And predictably, the usual suspects in the corporate media can’t handle it.

This is what restoring order looks like.

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