‘Mouthpieces for Trump’: inside the rightwing takeover of the Pentagon press corps

Sat, 06 Dec 2025

Pentagon press passes once held by credentialed journalists are now in the hands of rightwing pundits and Trump allies

Being a member of the Pentagon press corps was once one of the more prestigious assignments in US journalism, a position reserved for heavy hitters from venerable newspapers and news channels, reporters at the peak of their powers.

Not any more. A press conference last week – held at a crucial time for a Pentagon embroiled in scandal – was instead attended by more than a dozen rightwing activists, with the government being held to account by a close ally of Donald Trump, an employee at Turning Point USA and someone from a pillow salesman’s nascent media company.