After others departed, Pentagon announces 'new' press corps filled with
conservative news outlets
[October 23, 2025]
By DAVID BAUDER
Several conservative news outlets said Wednesday they had agreed to a
new press policy rejected by virtually all legacy media organizations
and will take their place in the Pentagon to cover Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth and the U.S. military.
The new Pentagon press corps will include the 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's announcement came less than a week after dozens of
reporters from outlets like The New York Times, The Associated Press,
CNN and the Washington Post turned in their access badges rather than
agree to a policy the journalists say will restrict them to covering
news approved by Hegseth.
Hegseth's spokesman, Sean Parnell, announced the “next generation” of
the Pentagon press corps with more than 60 journalists who had agreed to
the new policy. He said 26 journalists who had previously been part of
the press corps were among the signees. The department wouldn't say who
any of them were, but several outlets reposted his message on X saying
they had signed on.
There isn't even unanimity among organizations that appeal to
conservative consumers. Fox News Channel, by far the most popular news
source for fans of President Donald Trump, was among the walkouts, as
was Newsmax.
Accusations of ‘self-righteous media’
In a post on X, Parnell denounced the “self-righteous media who chose to
self-deport from the Pentagon."
“Americans have largely abandoned digesting their news through the lens
of activists who masquerade as journalists in the mainstream media,”
Parnell wrote. “We look forward to beginning a fresh relationship with
members of the new Pentagon press corps.”
The journalists who left the Pentagon haven't stopped working covering
the U.S. military. Many have been reporting aggressively, for example,
on stories about strikes against boats in central America alleged to be
part of the drug trade.
By not being in the Pentagon, “reporters will have to work harder,
there's no question about it,” said Barbara Starr, a longtime Pentagon
reporter retired from CNN.
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Members of the Pentagon press corp carry their belongings out of the
Pentagon after turning in their press credentials, Wednesday, Oct.
15, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
“But the real price is paid by the American people and the American
military families,” Starr said. “Military families who have their
sons and daughters serving, they want to know everything and they
want to know it fast.”
Starr wondered about Hegseth: “What is he so afraid of?” New York
Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a biting piece about the defense
secretary over the weekend titled “Fraidy-Cat at the Pentagon.” But
Hegseth's boss, President Trump, has expressed support for the new
media policy and Hegseth's aggressive moves mirror some of those
made by the administration. The president has sued outlets like The
New York Times and Wall Street Journal for their coverage of him.
New outlets must add staff
Some of the outlets that accepted Hegseth's rules will have to staff
up for their new roles: Just the News, for example, posted an ad
online seeking a Pentagon reporter.
The Gateway Pundit's White House correspondent, Jordan Conradson,
posted on Wednesday that he was excited to join the Pentagon press
corps “and help restore honest journalism after agreeing to follow
basic rules ... something the legacy media refuses to do!”
Lindell, whose My Pillow ads once blanketed Fox News before he
joined the political media, posted a statement that LindellTV was
“proud to be part of a new generation of news organizations
reshaping how real information reaches the public.”
Some of the publications pronounce themselves conservative in their
mission statements. The “about” page on the National Pulse features
a picture of Trump.
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