The Trump administration is ousting four additional outlets from Pentagon workspaces, with CNN and The Washington Post set to lose their spots in favor of right-wing media entities.
Last week, the Defense Department, now led by former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, launched a new rotating program in which The New York Times, NBC News, Politico and NPR were told to vacate their spaces in favor of the New York Post, One America News Network, Huffington Post and Breitbart News Network.
After protest from groups including the National Press Club, the Pentagon’s spokesman John Ullyot announced that more outlets would also have to vacate in favor of new ones.
The Washington Post will be replaced by the Washington Examiner, CNN by Newsmax, The Hill by The Free Press and The War Zone by the Daily Caller.
The outlets told to vacate their space will still have access to the Pentagon, but the lack of space will make covering the Defense Department more of a logistical challenge.
“Outlets that vacate spaces currently on loan to them by the Secretary will remain full members of the Pentagon press corps” under the annual rotation program, Ullyot wrote in a letter to media outlets. “They will retain the same media access to the Pentagon as they have previously.”
Ullyot wrote that television outlets would be offered share storage space for tripods and other large equipment.
The ouster of the original cable news channel in favor of the far-right Newsmax is part of a second wave of media shakeups at the Pentagon. The “media rotation program” was announced earlier this month in a statement-cum-eviction notice for the New York Times, NPR and NBC News. Those outlets will be replaced by the New York Post, Breitbart News and One America News Network when they vacate the office later this month. All of the booted outlets will still have press credentials to cover the Department of Defense.
CNN shared a defiant statement about their removal from the offices.
“CNN’s mission to report on the Department of Defense, US military and Trump Administration will continue regardless of office arrangements. We will not be deflected from our duty to hold all three fairly and fully to account,” the network wrote.
