Washington DC - The Pentagon banned its own in-house newspaper from attending a press conference held by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

In an X post shared on Thursday, Matthew Adams, a reporter for the Pentagon's Stars and Stripes, revealed that the publication was "not approved by the Pentagon to attend" a press conference about Operation Epic Fury – the codename given to the US war on Iran.

Adams described the move as "a bit odd" since the Pentagon recently put out a memo announcing interference with the paper's editorial independence, including the expansion of oversight and restrictions on content.

Kevin Baron, another reporter with the paper, expressed similar dismay in his own post, accusing the Pentagon of having "blackballed its own newspaper."

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"Reminder, Stars & Stripes employees are US Army civilians," Baron added. "Their editorial independence is protected by Congress specifically to prevent political leaders from feeding troops propaganda."

The move comes as Hegseth and President Donald Trump have been aggressively demanding the media publish only positive messaging about the war and the administration. The president went as far as to say that any bad press should be considered "TREASON."

During Thursday's presser, Hegseth claimed critical reporting was simply driven by hatred of the president.

"A dishonest and anti-Trump press will stop at nothing... to downplay progress, amplify every cost, and call into question every step," Hegseth lamented. "Sadly, [Trump derangement syndrome] is in their DNA."