The Pentagon (Ministry of National Defense) press corps' refusal to sign a Defense Department-proposed pledge restricting reporting is intensifying tensions in Washington. The media world is pushing back, saying the Donald Trump administration has launched what it calls "killing the press," while the Defense Department maintains that attempts to obtain information through illegal channels cannot be legally protected.
According to foreign media on the 13th (local time), the Pentagon press corps, the Pentagon Press Association (PPA), issued a statement saying it would refuse the Defense Department's demand to pledge to restrict reporting on "unauthorized information." This is seen as a collective response to pressure from the Defense Department, which warned it would revoke credentials if reporters covered classified or controlled information that had not been approved.
Earlier, the Ministry of National Defense announced a policy for reporters entering the building requiring "prior approval for reporting and contact with insiders," and notified them to sign a pledge. Under this policy, reporters must obtain higher-level approval to quote military officials, whether the information is classified or not, and may face disadvantages if they report without following such procedures. Reporters who do not sign the pledge must return their credentials by the 15th, and the issuance of new credentials will also be restricted.
The PPA said of the Defense Department's move, "No such signatures are required at the White House, the State Department, or any other federal agency," adding, "This pledge is intended to muzzle military personnel and intimidate reporters seeking to report without prior approval." The association added, "If the choice is to accept a policy that can be used to retaliate against reporters, we will return our credentials."
The PPA represents more than 100 outlets, but it reportedly has not issued an official recommendation to members on whether to sign. According to the Washington Post (WP), ▲ the WP ▲ the New York Times (NYT) ▲ the AP and Reuters ▲ CNN ▲ the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ▲ public radio NPR ▲ the current affairs magazine the Atlantic ▲ Newsmax have expressed their intention to join the refusal.
News organizations are raising their voices in criticism. Richard Stevenson, the NYT's Washington bureau chief, criticized it as "a measure to punish routine newsgathering protected by the Constitution," while the WSJ also said, "In its current form, we cannot sign (the pledge)." By contrast, the conservative One America News Network said it "signed the revised policy after legal review."
The media sees the move as reflecting the administration's intent to weaken the press's watchdog function. This year, the White House has decided the briefing room seating arrangements directly instead of through the reporters' association, assigned seats to new media such as podcasts, and restricted access by some major outlets to certain events. The Ministry of National Defense also once stirred controversy by evicting the NYT, NBC, and CNN from office space they had used inside the building and reallocating it to conservative outlets such as the New York Post and Breitbart News.
However, the Ministry of National Defense maintains that a journalist requesting an employee to leak information illegally cannot be deemed "freedom of the press" under the First Amendment. Defense Department Spokesperson Sean Parnell said, "The policy is a process to confirm understanding, not consent," adding, "Access to the building is a privilege, not a right." He continued, "The press still has ample access through the public affairs office, the briefing room, and the Q&A process."
The Trump administration has long been at odds with news organizations. For example, in Jun., after CNN, the NYT, and the WP reported initial Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessments that damage from a U.S. Air Force operation striking three nuclear facilities in Iran was largely limited to ground structures, the administration fumed that they were trying to "belittle the most successful military strike in history." Just before that, it swiftly dismissed as "unrelated to the facts" a WSJ report that the administration was considering withdrawing thousands of U.S. Forces Korea troops.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth stoked controversy by posting a waving-hand emoji on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the NYT and the WP posted statements opposing the measure on the 13th. Given that Hegseth earlier this year weathered a storm over leaked military secrets in a group messenger chat, the move is seen as likely influenced by him. In Mar., administration officials exchanged specific information related to Houthi rebel attacks on the private encrypted chat app "Signal," and a left-leaning Atlantic magazine reporter, mistakenly invited by someone, reported the contents. At the time, President Trump, when asked by the press about the accuracy of the report, said, "I don't know much (about the report). I am not an avid reader of the Atlantic. To me, that's a magazine that's about to be shuttered."