Pentagon bans the press from using its press room

The Pentagon has declared its press office a classified space, effectively barring journalists from accessing the facility in a move that marks another significant restriction on media access.

Confirming the decision on X, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez stated there was "nothing controversial" about the change. He attributed the reclassification to speechwriters, who handle sensitive material, now occupying the space.

Valdez wrote: "The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility. These speechwriters routinely handle classified material … as a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space. There’s nothing controversial about that."

This latest development, initially reported by The Washington Post, unfolds amid escalating tensions between the US media and the administration of Donald Trump, a dynamic that has frequently played out in public and, at times, in the courts.

For many years, reporters covering the Pentagon enjoyed credentials that granted them extensive movement within the building, facilitating interactions with press officials. However, last October, a majority of news outlets withdrew their access badges and departed the Pentagon rather than accept government-imposed restrictions on their work.

The New York Times initiated its second lawsuit against the Defense Department in five months on 18 May. The newspaper contends that the requirement for journalists to be escorted while on Pentagon grounds infringes upon the First Amendment, characterising it as "an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs."

This additional lawsuit followed an initial legal challenge in December, where The New York Times sued the Pentagon over new rules implemented by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The paper sought to challenge an interim policy "that the Pentagon hastily put into place after a federal judge ruled in The Times’s favor in its original lawsuit," which included the mandate for journalists to be accompanied by escorts at all times.

The escort policy was introduced in March, subsequent to a ruling by US District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman that had invalidated earlier restrictions. The following month, Judge Friedman determined that the interim policy violated his March order. Despite this, the escort policy remains in effect after an appeals court stayed part of Friedman’s ruling while the government pursues its appeal, a process that is currently ongoing.