Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the move, saying there was “nothing controversial” about it.
NEW YORK – Another in a series of initiatives Restricting media access to the Pentagonthe Ministry of Defense announced that its press office is now a confidential space inaccessible to journalists.
On X, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the move, saying there was “nothing controversial” about the move because speechwriters who used classified material now occupy the space.
“The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated a Sensitive Quarantine Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” Valdez wrote.
“These speechwriters often work with confidential material… therefore, journalists will no longer be allowed into the office space,” he wrote. “There’s nothing controversial about that.”
The latest move, first reported by The Washington Post, comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. media and Trump’s second administration, not only in the public sphere but also, at times, in the courts.
For years, Pentagon reporters have had credentials that allowed them to move widely within the building in an attempt to interact with press officials there. But in October, most news outlets handed in their passes and go out The Pentagon rather than agreeing to government-imposed restrictions on their work.
new york times On May 18, the Ministry of Defense was sued for the second time in five months.arguing that the requirement to accompany reporters inside the Pentagon violates the First Amendment and is “an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs.”
The newspaper said it had filed additional lawsuits after first suing the Pentagon in December over the rules by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to challenge “a temporary policy that the Pentagon hastily implemented after a federal judge ruled in favor of The New York Times in the initial lawsuit.” The new policy includes requiring reporters to have a chaperone with them at all times while at the Pentagon.
The policy was implemented in March following a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman that overturned previous restrictions. The following month, a judge ruled that the interim policy violated his March order. But when an appeals court stayed part of Friedman’s ruling pending the government’s appeal, the escort policy remained in place. The appeals process is ongoing.
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