We've seen the Pentagon under the second administration of President Trump lay down some beefed-up guidelines over which media outlets will earn credentials to cover the Department of War (DOW) and Secretary Pete Hegseth's efforts to rebuild our nation's fighting forces and ensure the national security of the U.S,
That came ahead of the revised rules in that department, stating where the journalists can and can not go inside the Pentagon itself due to the need for heightened security and tamping down on leaks. Media outlets definitely made their shrill voices heard about it.
READ MORE: Pentagon Limits Reporters' Ability to Leak Classified Information, and They Are Not Happy
The Press Postures Over Pentagon Media Crackdown, but They Have No Power
Readers might remember that the next month, as my colleague Bob Hoge wrote, the White House also displeased the media and Democrats (but I repeat myself) over its rules for publications' press corps correspondents--after a major shake-up over the rotation of outlets during briefings and gaggle opportunities.
Now, the White House has announced through a memo released Friday, with new rules on access to the office of Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt--something that seems to already be angering the legacy media.
Members of the media who cover the White House will no longer have free access to an office in the West Wing used by communications staff, the Trump administration said Friday in its latest move to rein in the press corps.
Reporters seeking to speak with White House officials in the office will now need an appointment, according to a memo released Friday by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Steven Cheung, the communications director, both of whom work in the now restricted area.
The White House said the move was motivated by “recent structural changes” that require communications staff to be responsible for matters pertaining to the National Security Council. “In this capacity, members of the White House Communications Staff are routinely engaging with sensitive material,” the memo said.
🚨 BREAKING: The Trump administration has just BANNED reporters from a part of the White House after several members of the media were caught "secretly recording video and audio," and taking photos of SENSITIVE INFORMATION without permission.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 31, 2025
Reporters have also spied on… pic.twitter.com/71k2HElqO1
After the story broke on Friday evening, the Chief White House Correspondent for the NY Times, Peter Baker, claimed on his X account that the WH of a previous administration in 1993 - oddly, he namechecked the then-First Lady, Hillary Clinton - bent the knee after "provok[ing] a storm":
Trump team bars reporters from the "upper press" office of the White House where the press secretary's office is located. In this, Trump is following the lead of Hillary Clinton, who pressed the White House staff to do this in 1993. It provoked a storm and they rescinded the ban.
White House responded through a post on X from Cheung, who clarified the reason for this memo--and it's no small matter, if true:
Some reporters have been caught secretly recording video and audio of our offices, along with pictures of sensitive info, without permission
— Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) October 31, 2025
Some reporters have wandered into restricted areas (our offices are feet away from the Oval Office)
Some reporters have been caught… https://t.co/tosUqrcKGt
He wrote:
Some reporters have been caught secretly recording video and audio of our offices, along with pictures of sensitive info, without permission
Some reporters have wandered into restricted areas (our offices are feet away from the Oval Office)
Some reporters have been caught eavesdropping on private, closed-door meetings
Cabinet Secretaries routinely come into our office for private meetings, only to be ambushed by reporters waiting outside our doors
Cheung ended by reminding the media that "[they] still [have] access to lower press where the press team sits and can answer all inquiries," and "[r]eporters can make appointments to see us in our offices."
This is a developing story. RedState will provide updates as more information comes in.
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