Outlets that reach millions denied access to rare Pentagon news briefings this week

Outlets that reach millions of news consumers are being denied access to rare briefings by Pentagon officials this week — sessions that are being held instead for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s hand-picked media organizations.

It’s not as if there’s little to talk about, with both the Senate and House Armed Services committees opening investigations into U.S. military strikes against alleged drug couriers in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Hegseth’s team says the briefings are part of special orientation events for a newly credentialed Pentagon press corps, consisting primarily of conservative outlets that agreed to his new rules for operation. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson is due to meet reporters Tuesday and Hegseth will do so Wednesday.

Most mainstream outlets exited the Pentagon this fall rather than agree to the new rules. The Defense Department says they are “common sense” regulations designed to prevent the spread of classified information. News outlets worried they would effectively be agreeing only to report news approved by Hegseth.

Departed journalists still working, just a bit farther away

The rules haven’t kept journalists from working, even without the physical access. The Washington Post reported Friday that Hegseth ordered a second strike in September on a boat with suspected drug smugglers after not everyone had been initially killed. President Donald Trump said Hegseth had denied he did this, which some critics have said was a potential war crime if true.

The Post, The Associated Press, CNN, Reuters and Newsmax were some of the outlets that said Monday they had requested special access to the Pentagon to cover question-and-answer sessions, but were denied.

“Denying access to briefings to credible and nonpartisan news media that routinely cover the Pentagon is not conducive to transparency for the American public, who fund the department’s budget to the tune of many hundreds of billions of dollars per year,” said Marc Lavine, North America regional director for Agence France-Presse, which also said its request was denied.

The department’s press office said Wilson’s briefing is part of a special orientation event “for credentialed press only.” It would not say whether future briefings would follow the same rules. Defense Department briefings used to be routine and regular; only a handful have been held since Trump began his second term.

It’s unclear whether any of the briefings will be seen outside the Pentagon. Lavine said AFP was told access to livestreams was not possible.

Newcomers take to social media

Some of the new Pentagon press corps posted pictures of themselves online Monday wearing their credentials.

They included influential Trump ally Laura Loomer, pictured sitting at an empty desk. “The Washington Post @washingtonpost and Dan Lamothe @DanLamothe used to occupy this desk inside the Pentagon Press room,” she wrote. “Now it’s mine!”

Replied Lamothe on X: “May it treat you well on your occasional trips to Washington, Laura. I assume it’ll sit empty much of the time, as it has for weeks now.”

Alexandra Ingersoll and former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz were recently credentialed at the Pentagon on behalf of One America News. Ingersoll is expected to report live this week from the Pentagon, said Charles Herring, OAN president. She conducted an interview with Hegseth that appeared on the network Nov. 20.

Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of The Daily Signal, said he expected to attend the briefings with reporter Bradley Devin, assuming some last-minute snags with their credentials are smoothed out.

Bluey, in an interview, said he understood the need for rules in issuing credentials, since his outlet was often denied access to places prior to the Trump administration.

“Generally,” he said, “I think that when government agencies err on the side of transparency it is to the benefit of the American people.”