WASHINGTON.— This Wednesday, the American newspaper The Washington Post reported that, the US War Department excluded photojournalists from at least two press conferences on the progress of the war against Iran after the media published “unfavorable” images of the secretary Pete Hegseth.
The photographs that caused discomfort in Hegseth’s team were taken on March 2 in the first appearance before journalists of the head of the Pentagon and the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Cainesince the beginning of the attacks launched against the Islamic Republic next to Israel, on February 28.
Exclusive: The Defense Department has barred photojournalists from briefings on the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran after they published photos of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that his staff deemed “unflattering,” according to two people familiar. https://t.co/G5Rr3y5k3E
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 11, 2026
After the publication of the images, the secretary’s staff told their colleagues that they did not like the appearance of the Pentagon chief, after which they decided to exclude photojournalists from the following briefings, held on March 4 and 10, two anonymous sources with knowledge of the events told the Post.
The March 2 press conference was the first time Hegseth appeared before reporters at the Pentagon podium since last June, following Washington’s bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities.
International agencies such as Associated Press, Reuters, the European EPA and Getty sent professionals to the press conference.
War Department spokesperson Kingsley Wilsonexplained in a statement that they are allowing only one representative to enter by means of communication without a permanent credential to “effectively use the space in the Pentagon press room.”
“(Institutional) photographs of press conferences are immediately published on the Internet for the public and the press to use. If that harms the business model of certain media, then they should consider requesting a press accreditation from the Pentagon,” he warned.
Attacks against the press
Since his return to power in January, the President Donald Trump have redoubled their attacks against the pressoften going so far as to offend reporters who ask questions that the president considers offensive. Members of his Cabinet, including Hegseth, have also taken similar positions.
Consequently, the renamed Department of War – the one that receives the most federal public funds – stopped holding its usual weekly press conferences or reporting in detail on military operations of public interest such as the attack on boats supposedly used for drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Media reject new Pentagon rules
In October, the Pentagon withdrew credentials to the vast majority of the media that worked in the emblematic building on the outskirts of Washington after they refused to accept new rules that establish strict limitations on access to facilities and the use of sources and raised the possibility of sanctions for requesting information of public interest without authorization, even when it is not classified.
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