Less than a week after most journalists covering the US Department of Defense turned in their press credentials and carried out their belongings in boxes over Secretary Pete Hegseth's new restrictions on reporters, his chief spokesperson announced "the next generation of the Pentagon press corps," which critics quickly condemned as a collection of right-wing propagandists.
Even many right-wing outlets—including the Daily Caller, Newsmax, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, and Fox News, where Hegseth was previously a host—have refused to sign on to the new rules at what President Donald Trump has dubbed the Department of War (DOW). The policy limits where reporters can go without an official escort and, most controversially, restricts them from soliciting or reporting on information not approved by the government, even if it is unclassified.
"We are excited to announce over 60 journalists, representing a broad spectrum of new media outlets and independent journalists, have signed the Pentagon's media access policy and will be joining the new Pentagon press corps," Sean Parnell, the Pentagon spokesperson, said Wednesday on the social media platform X. "Twenty-six journalists across 18 outlets were among the former Pentagon press corps who chose to sign the DOW media access policy."
"New media outlets and independent journalists have created the formula to circumvent the lies of the mainstream media and get real news directly to the American people," he wrote. "Their reach and impact collectively are far more effective and balanced than the self-righteous media who chose to self-deport from the Pentagon. Americans have largely abandoned digesting their news through the lens of activists who masquerade as journalists in the mainstream media. We look forward to beginning a fresh relationship with members of the new Pentagon press corps."
According to the Washington Post, which obtained a draft announcement:
The coalition of signatories includes streaming service Lindell TV (started by MyPillow CEO and Trump ally Mike Lindell), the websites the Gateway Pundit, the Post Millennial, Human Events, and the National Pulse. It also includes Turning Point USA's media brand Frontlines, as well as influencer Tim Pool's Timcast, and a Substack-based newsletter called Washington Reporter. The memo said that "many independent journalists" also signed, but did not specify who they were.
Timcast, the National Pulse, and the Washington Reporter all confirmed to the Post that they had signed the policy. The Post Millennial, Human Events, TPUSA Frontlines, Lindell TV, and the Gateway Pundit all confirmed on X, as did Just the News.
A wide range of critics, including many journalists, sharply condemned the "Pentagon Propaganda Corps" as "a predictable clown car of loyalists," and "a who's who of pro-Trump propagandists." They called Parnell's announcement "deeply weird and awful," "so Orwellian," and "real textbook fascism beginning to end."
"This reads like they're announcing the handpicked contestants of a new reality series," said journalist and television news producer John Flowers.
Africa Report's Julian Pecquet quipped, "That's a lot of stenographers."
Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, said, "Press corps as adjuncts of the administration."
Breaking Defense reporter Valerie Insinna wrote that it is "important to note that all of the defense trade publications refused to sign the Pentagon's media access policy, and we write about budget and military technology—not exactly what you think of when you envision 'activists who masquerade as journalists.'"
Other journalists now covering the Pentagon from afar used Parnell's X post to share their contact information.
"If anyone is interested in speaking to a member of the current generation of the press corps… the one that is still aggressively covering the Pentagon," wrote Konstantin Toropin of the Associated Press, "you can find me on Signal at ktoropin.73."
Reuters' Idrees Ali similarly said, "If you want to talk to the 'old' generation of the press corps, which continues to cover the Pentagon accurately and aggressively, you can reach out to me on Signal at idreesali1141.43."
Heather Mongilio of USNI News, the US Naval Institute's independent news service, stressed that "defense journalists that turned in their badges continue to cover the Pentagon and military, even if they do not have desks."
"See news of the eighth strike on a suspected drug boat as an example," she continued, referring to Trump's latest illegal bombing in international waters—the first in the Pacific. "As always, I can be reached at HMongilio.52 on Signal."
