Trump's DOD Boots Establishment Media to the Curb, Clears Out Pentagon Press Offices
The Department of Defense has revealed plans to implement a new "annual media rotation program," which will see news organizations cycle through office spaces at the Pentagon. As a result, some well-established media outlets will temporarily lose their designated workspaces.
According to NBC News, The New York Times, NPR, Politico, and NBC News were instructed to vacate their assigned offices in a memo sent to the press corps on Friday evening.
The memo included a statement that "no additional information will be provided at this time."
Under this new arrangement, NBC News will be replaced by One America News Network, while the spaces previously occupied by The New York Times, NPR, and Politico will now be taken by the New York Post, Breitbart News Network, and HuffPost.
The first three incoming news organizations lean conservative, whereas the fourth has a progressive stance.
“For over a half-century, the Pentagon Press Corps has benefited from working out of individual office spaces that provide coveted and open access to some of the Department’s top military and civilian leaders,” Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot stated in the memo.
Ullyot also confirmed that the new media rotation system will take effect on February 14.
The initiative aims to “broaden access to the limited space of the Correspondents’ Corridor to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege and journalist value of working from physical office space in the Pentagon,” Ullyot explained.
NBC News voiced its displeasure over the decision in an official response.
“We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades,” the network stated.
“Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has,” the statement continued.
NPR also criticized the move, asserting that it “interferes with the ability of millions of Americans to directly hear from Pentagon leadership, and with NPR’s public interest mission to serve Americans who turn to our network of local public media stations in all 50 states.”
NBC News further reported that HuffPost currently lacks a dedicated Pentagon correspondent and had not requested an office space at the facility.
Despite this, HuffPost spokesperson Lizzie Grams remarked, “if the Trump administration and Secretary Hegseth are interested in more hard-hitting coverage of their stewardship of the Defense Department from HuffPost, we are ready to deliver.”
A representative for One America News also commented on the transition, noting that the organization has operated a news bureau in Washington, D.C., since 2012 and "looks forward to having access to physical office space at the Pentagon and will utilize the accommodations full-time as soon as it’s available.”
This shift in media representation at the Pentagon aligns with a broader strategy within the Trump administration, which acknowledges the growing preference of many Americans for alternative news sources outside of traditional mainstream networks.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, during her first press briefing on Wednesday, announced a similar initiative to provide space for “new media voices who produce news-related content and whose outlet is not already represented” in the James Brady Briefing Room.
“We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House,” she said.