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U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he opposes giving the Pentagon control over news reporting, breaking with his own Defense Department as it implements tighter restrictions on journalists' access to military facilities.
"No, I don't think so. Nothing stops reporters," Trump responded when asked whether the Pentagon should determine what reporters can cover.
The president's comments came days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the new media access rules in a social media post Friday. "The 'press' does not run the Pentagon -- the people do," Hegseth wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Pentagon formalized updated media guidelines Thursday that significantly restrict how journalists operate within the building. Under the new protocols, credentialed reporters must sign documents acknowledging the changed rules before gaining access.
The restrictions mark a departure from previous practices that allowed reporters to move with relative freedom throughout much of the Pentagon. Now, journalists require escorts when visiting sensitive areas, though they retain access to the defense media office and other general spaces, according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, who outlined what he called "updated physical control measures for press/media access."
The media access changes come weeks after Trump signed an executive order on September 5 that rebranded the Defense Department as the Department of War for certain official uses. The order introduces "Department of War" and "Secretary of War" as secondary titles for ceremonial contexts and executive branch communications, though the official legal designations remain unchanged.
Only Congress holds the authority to formally rename federal departments, meaning the Department of Defense and secretary of defense remain the official titles under federal law.
The tension between press access and military security has long been a balancing act for the Pentagon, which regularly hosts journalists covering national security issues while protecting classified information and sensitive operations.
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