Defense Minister Hegseth, who is locked up by LEKKS, orders more restrictions for the press in the Pentagon

Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, who died during his short term through LECKS for the media, issued a number of restrictions on the press late Friday, including the ban on reporters, large parts of the Pentagon without a government coretry – areas in which the press covers the activities of the most powerful military in the world in past administrations.

The newly restricted areas include his office and that of its top helpers and all different places in the mammoth building, in which the army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps and the Space Force press office entertain.

The media are also excluded from the offices of the high -ranking military leadership of the Pentagon, including the joint chairman of the chiefs, General Dan Caine, without Hegseth's approval and an escort from his adjutants. The employees of the joint bosses traditionally maintain a good relationship with the press.

Hegseth, the former personality of Fox News Channel, gave his order via a posting on X on Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend. He said it was necessary for national security.

“While the department for transparency is still obliged, the department is equally obliged to protect information and sensitive information (classified intelligent information), and the non -authorized disclosure could put the life of the US service members in danger,” wrote Hegseth.

The Pentagon Press Association expressed skepticism that surgical concerns were involved – and associated with the change with earlier actions by Hegseth's office, the journalists and their reporting.

“There is no way to gloss over it. Today's memo by secretary Hegseth seems to know a direct attack on freedom of the press and the right to know America what his military is doing,” said a statement on Friday evening. “The Pentagon Press Association is extremely concerned about the decision to restrict the movement of accredited journalists within the Pentagon by unsettled, non -classified corridors.”

Hegseth also said that reporters would sign a form for protecting sensitive information and issued a new badge that identifies it more clearly than the press. It was not clear whether the signing of the form would be a condition of the continued access to the building.

Two months ago, the department was embarrassed by a leak to the New York Times that the billionaire Elon Musk should receive a lettering on the plans of the US military if a war broke out with China. This briefing never took place on President Donald Trump's command, and Hegseth set two Pentagon officials as part of an investigation of how they came out.

The Pentagon was also embarrassing when the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally included in a group chat via the Signal Messaging app, in which Hegseth discussed plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen. The former national security advisor from Trump, Mike Waltz, assumed the responsibility for Goldberg and was changed to another job.

The administration has taken several aggressive measures since Trump took over the management, including FCC investigations on ABC, CBS and NBC News. Restrictions that were imposed on certain events of the White House at the beginning of this year led to an ongoing judicial dispute.

The White House has also increased access for conservative media that are friendly to the President. However, a study published at the beginning of this month showed that Trump had exchanged reporters more often in his first 100 days in office than each of his six predecessors.

However, Hegseth was far less available. He still has to speak to the press in the Pentagon briefing room. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell has only held a Pentagon press conference since January 20. The Pentagon has taken other steps to make it difficult to report reporters, including the acceptance of eight media processes, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and NBC.

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David Bauder writes about the media for the AP. Follow him and