The Pentagon has banned photographers from War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s press briefings on the war in Iran following the March 2 briefing of the joint U.S.-Israeli military strike and a history of contentious relationships with news outlets.
Photographers from several outlets, including the Associated Press, Reuters, and Getty Images, were present at the briefing and subsequently published photos, but were shut out from the two subsequent briefings at the Pentagon on March 4 and March 10.
The March 2 briefing was the first time Hegseth had been seen at the Pentagon briefing room podium since June 26. Since then, only the War Department’s staff photographers have been permitted into the briefings.
Two people familiar with the decision said Hegseth’s staff deemed the publication of photos of Hegseth from the March 2 briefing “unflattering,” according to the Washington Post. It is unclear whether a single photo or a collection of shots led to dismay among Hegseth’s staff.
In a statement, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson wrote, “In order to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively, we are allowing one representative per news outlet if uncredentialed, excluding pool. Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use. If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”
The Pentagon issued press rules to outlets in October 2025, stipulating media coverage policies, including a ban on reporters asking anyone in the Department of War for any information that hasn’t been approved for release. Reporters are also barred from entering large areas of the Pentagon without an escort.
The Washington Examiner, among a coalition of news outlets, did not sign the Pentagon press rules, arguing that the new rules violate the First Amendment, and left its newsdesks at the Pentagon.
“The Washington Examiner does not sign agreements with people we cover in our reporting in any other area, and we do not plan to make an exception in this case,” Washington Examiner Editor-in-Chief Hugo Gurdon said. “The Department of War will set its rules, and we will continue to provide our readers with strong, independent news reporting.”
The Pentagon announced a “new” press corps in October 2025, comprised of Gateway Pundit, the National Pulse, Human Events, podcaster Tim Pool, the Just the News website founded by journalist John Solomon, Frontlines by Turning Point USA, and LindellTV, run by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
The Pentagon has been issuing passes to reporters who vacated their desks to attend Hegseth’s briefings on the war, although the secretary of war is said to infrequently recognize those outlets at briefings.
THE US CONFLICT IN IRAN BY THE NUMBERS
“Excluding photographers from Pentagon briefings because officials did not like how published images portrayed them shows an astonishingly poor sense of priorities in the midst of a war and is, for a public servant, not a good look,” said Alex Garcia, president of the National Press Photographers Association.
A call to action has been raised to restore photographers’ access to the press briefings, raising First Amendment concerns. Hegseth is still permitting video cameras at press briefings at this time.
