The Pentagon designates its press office a ‘classified zone’ – making it off limits to reporters
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In one of a series of measures restricting media access to the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense has announced that its press office is now a classified area – therefore inaccessible to journalists.
On X, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, Joel Valdez, confirmed the move, saying there was “no controversy” about it and that it happened because the speechwriters, who used secret materials, were now taking up space.
“The Pentagon Press Office has been re-designated as a critical information center because of the speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War who share the center,” Valdez wrote.
“These speechwriters are used to handling confidential matters … as a result, journalists will no longer be allowed to enter the office premises. There is no dispute about that.”
The latest move, first reported by the Washington Post, comes amid growing tensions between the US media and Trump’s second administration, which has played out in the public arena and sometimes in the courts.
Major news organizations including the New York Times, Associated Press and Fox News have said they will not sign the Pentagon’s new press rules introduced by the US defense secretary, saying the measures threaten important protections for journalists.
For years, Pentagon reporters have had information giving them wide-ranging movement around the building as they sought to communicate with press officials there. But last October, many news outlets turned to access badges and walked out of the Pentagon rather than comply with government restrictions on their work.
The New York Times sued the Department of Defense on May 18 for the second time in five months, arguing that the requirement that reporters be escorted while on Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment and is “an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs.”
The newspaper said it has filed another lawsuit, after first suing the Pentagon in December over the new rules put in place by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to challenge the interim policy “the Pentagon quickly went into action after a judge ruled in favor of The Times in its first case.” The new policy included a requirement that reporters be accompanied by an escort at all times while in the Pentagon.
The policy was implemented in March after a ruling by US District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman struck down previous restrictions. The following month, a judge ruled that the interim order violated his March order. But the escort policy remained intact when an appeals court stayed part of Friedman’s decision while the government filed an appeal.
The appeals process is ongoing.
