On Tuesday, the Pentagon press corps ceased to exist. Reporters who refused to sign a memorandum acknowledging the new rules for covering the Pentagon had to turn in their press credentials. Only one outlet, OANN, complied. The rest are banned from the Pentagon. Note that the requirement was merely to acknowledge some commonsense rules that reduced leaks without interfering with news gathering. No one was forced to agree to abide by the rules; they just had to agree that they were aware of them.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's tenure has been beset by leaks from senior military and civilians who disagree with his focus on warfighting, the warrior ethos, and keeping America safe. The fact that Operation Midnight Hammer was pulled off without leaks indicates that the center of resistance is among the super-grade civilians who have carved out their empires and just wait for the uniformed folks to move on.
BACKGROUND:
Pentagon Limits Reporters' Ability to Leak Classified Information, and They Are Not Happy – RedState
As this was unfolding, CNN's Barbara Starr gave a cryptic warning to Hegseth as Kaitlan Collins was interviewing her (I've never figured out the journalistic value of having one reporter with no knowledge or experience interviewing an equally ignorant colleague, but that's journalism, I guess).
Barbara Starr, longtime CNN correspondent and stalwart of the Pentagon press corps, on Secretary Hegseth’s changes to press policy: “I think he's about to potentially run into a buzz saw of trouble, because reporters are going to continue to report whether they're inside the… pic.twitter.com/uVzqE9CpFX
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 15, 2025
“I think he's about to potentially run into a buzz saw of trouble, because reporters are going to continue to report whether they're inside the building or not."
This sounds pretty much like Chuck Schumer's warning to Donald Trump about not kowtowing to the Intelligence Community. "Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. So, even for a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he’s being really dumb to do this."
As sure as night follows day, the personal attacks on Hegseth have started. The Daily Beast devoted its recent YouTube video to predicting Hegseth's demise, calling him "the first big Scalp."
This is a synopsis of the Mean Girls session:
Hegseth still has a government paycheck, for now, but the clock appears to be ticking. Gardner told interviewer Joanne Coles that Trump vowed to avoid the revolving door chaos of his first term, promising cabinet secretaries a full year to prove they could deliver. That grace period, Gardner suggested, is about to expire. “Watch out for January and Pete Hegseth,” he said, predicting the Pentagon chief will not make it much past the first anniversary.
Set a one-year runway, put every top official in a loyalty bake off, then see who actually performs. Daily Beast political reporter Sarah Ewall Wice argued the framework looks intentional, if you say early that your cabinet picks are not long term, you force them to compete for attention and prove absolute loyalty from day one. In that kind of survival game, performance is only half the test, the other half is whether you are the president’s favorite.
On that scorecard, insiders paint Hegseth as faltering. Gardner has been blunt, calling the defense secretary “bottom of the list in terms of efficiency and top of the list in terms of suck ups.” While Hegseth publicly thunders for the MAGA crowd, he is reportedly taking a back seat in real decision making, ceding the spotlight to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is said to be the current apple of Trump’s eye. One anecdote making the rounds has Hegseth routed to a separate plane during a recent Middle East swing, the kind of not-so-subtle body language that Washington reads as a pink slip in motion.
All of it is unfolding against a worsening fight with the press that has lit up every Pentagon hallway. In an extraordinary standoff, longtime defense reporters surrendered their credentials after a new Department of Defense memo attempted to ban the publication of unclassified information without explicit permission. The Pentagon Press Association called it a direct threat to national security reporting, claiming the policy would criminalize basic journalism and expose reporters to prosecution for doing their jobs. In a searing statement, the PPA called October 15, 2025, a dark day for press freedom and a warning siren about transparency at the world’s most powerful military.
You'll note how Hegseth's alleged flaws lack specificity, but the defenestration of the Pentagon press corps is a huge deal. I'm pretty sure no one in the White House, or on Main Street, sees things that way.
The White House has responded to the video:
"This is total fake news – but that’s to be expected from the TDS-ridden shitposters at the Daily Beast," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said.
"President Trump has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth and appreciates all he is doing to restore a focus on readiness and lethality at the Department of War," she added.
"The Daily Beast has no credibility whatsoever, "Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said. "The ramblings of their Washington bureau chief should be taken no more seriously than the ramblings of a crackhead on the street."
"Secretary Hegseth's position is far more secure than that of a Daily Beast staffer, whose organization was gutted last year following massive buyouts and layoffs," they added.
Personally, I don't see Hegseth as in danger of being fired, but what do I know? I think Hegseth's rapport with the rank and file is unmatched. There hasn't been a reporting of personal or procurement scandals that typically sink cabinet secretaries. Hegseth is also popular with Trump's base, and absent some massive screwup, firing him doesn't seem to make political sense.
What it amounts to is simply payback. The media is torqued that Hegseth has put limits on their freewheeling reporting from the Pentagon. They are shocked when no one cares they walked off in a huff. So their way of getting even is to push stories designed to attack Hegseth personally and attempt to damage him. Pushing a story that he's on the way out hurts him with subordinates, limits his effectiveness in dealing with foreign nations, and opens him to backstabbing within Republican political circles because there is always someone who wants your job.
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