Hello and welcome to the details of ‘Direct attack on freedom’: Journalists now need escorts at Pentagon under new Trump-era rules and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025. — Reuters pic
WASHINGTON, May 24 — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday issued orders that require journalists to have official escorts within much of the Pentagon building, the latest in a series of Trump administration restrictions placed on the press.
The measures, which take effect immediately, bar credentialed reporters from most of the Department of Defense headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, unless they have an official approval and escort.
“While the Department remains committed to transparency, the Department is equally obligated to protect CSNI (classified intelligence) and sensitive information — the unauthorised disclosure of which could put the lives of U.S. Service members in danger,” Hegseth said in a memorandum.
He called the protection of classified national intelligence information and operational security “an unwavering imperative for the Department.”
The Pentagon Press Association, a membership organisation representing the interests of the press corps covering the U.S. military, said the new rules appeared to be a “direct attack on the freedom of the press.”
“The decision is purportedly based on concerns about operational security. But the Pentagon Press Corps has had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the Pentagon for decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, without any concern about OP-SEC from DoD leadership,” the statement said.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the press association’s statement.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, the Pentagon has launched an investigation into leaks that resulted in three officials being placed on administrative leave.
It has also required legacy media organisations, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and NBC News, to vacate their Pentagon office spaces in a new rotation system that brought in others, including outlets generally friendly to the Trump administration such as the New York Post, Breitbart, the Daily Caller and One America News Network. The Trump administration says the move is intended to allow other media outlets the opportunity to report as resident members of the press corps.
More broadly, the Trump administration has deployed lie detector tests to investigate unclassified leaks, with some Department of Homeland Security officials being told they could be fired for refusing polygraphs, Reuters reported on Friday. The White House says Trump will not tolerate leaks to the media and that federal employees who do so should be held accountable.
Hegseth’s Friday order also requires members of the Pentagon press corps to acknowledge a responsibility to protect national intelligence and sensitive information, and says they will be issued with new credentials that more prominently identify them as members of the press.
“We also anticipate a forthcoming announcement of additional security measures and enhanced scrutiny on the issuance of (credentials),” the memo said. — Reuters
These were the details of the news ‘Direct attack on freedom’: Journalists now need escorts at Pentagon under new Trump-era rules for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
