The New York Times, AP, Reuters and Newsmax among news organizations fighting new press rules
News organizations including the New York Times, the Associated Press and conservative television network Newsmax said Monday they would not sign a U.S. Defense Department document regarding its new press rules, making it likely the Trump administration will expel its journalists from the Pentagon.
These media outlets claim that this policy threatens to punish them for routine information gathering protected by the First Amendment. The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Reuters also publicly joined the group, which said Monday it would not sign.
“Reuters is bound by its commitment to providing accurate, impartial and independent information,” the agency said in a statement. “We also believe strongly in the press protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution, the free flow of information, and journalism that serves the public interest without fear or favor. The Pentagon’s new restrictions erode these core values.”
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded by posting the Times statement to X and adding a waving hand emoji. His team said journalists who did not acknowledge the policy in writing by Tuesday would have to turn in their badges authorizing them at the Pentagon and clear out their workspaces the next day.
Pro-Trump network calls for policy overhaul
The new rules bar journalists from large parts of the Pentagon without escort and stipulate that Hegseth can revoke press access to journalists who ask anyone in the Defense Department for information — classified or unclassified — that he has not approved for publication.
Newsmax, whose on-air journalists generally support President Donald Trump’s administration, said that “we believe these requirements are unnecessary and onerous and hope the Pentagon will review the matter further.”
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said the rules establish “common-sense media procedures.”
“The policy is not asking them to agree, just to acknowledge that they understand what our policy is,” Parnell said. “This has led to a complete meltdown among journalists, calling the victim online. We stand by our policy because it’s what’s best for our troops and the national security of this country.”
Journalists oppose false claims
Hegseth also reposted a follower’s question that asked, “Is it because they can’t roam the Pentagon freely?” Do they believe they deserve unfettered access to a highly classified military installation under the First Amendment?
Hegseth replied “yes”. Journalists say none of these claims are true.
Pentagon reporters say signing the statement is an admission that providing information that has not been approved by the government undermines national security. “It’s simply not true,” said David Schulz, director of the Clinic for Media Freedom and Access to Information at Yale University.
Journalists said they had long worn badges and did not access classified areas, nor did they report information that might put Americans in danger.
“The Pentagon certainly has the right to set its own policy, within the confines of the law,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement Monday. “However, it is neither necessary nor justified to require journalists to assert their understanding of vague, likely unconstitutional, policies as a prerequisite to reporting from Pentagon facilities.”
Noting that taxpayers pay nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. military each year, Times Washington bureau chief Richard Stevenson said “the public has a right to know how the government and the military operate.”
Trump has put pressure on news organizations in several ways, with ABC News and CBS News settling lawsuits related to their coverage. Trump also filed lawsuits against the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and moved to defund government-run services like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
