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The Hill
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Hegseth brings warfighter mentality to media relations
The Defense Department's relationship with reporters has gone from bad to worse following a string of missives from Secretary Pete Hegseth and his office aimed at controlling the Pentagon press corps. Hegseth's war on the media includes taking desks away from legacy outlets, locking the doors to one of the few places reporters have access to the internet in the Pentagon, and restricting their movement within the building. Compounding the breakdown in media relations is a staffing shortage in the Pentagon's public affairs shop, with at least 12 officials in the office reportedly leaving in recent weeks. The office officially held 32 people at the start of the year. That has left one of the government's largest agencies often unresponsive amid a steady stream of scandals and public relations snafus, though it maintains an active 'DOD Rapid Response' account on X, which posted on Saturday, 'we will always deliver on our promise of transparency.' The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment on this article. Hegseth often talks about bringing a warfighter mentality to the Pentagon. His hostile approach to the media comes at the detriment of the American public, said Jonathan Katz, senior director for the Anti-Corruption, Democracy and Security Project at the Brookings Institution. 'Americans need to understand what's happening in the Department of Defense because it's critical to U.S. national security and to their everyday lives,' Katz told The Hill. 'Right now it looks like the Pentagon, led by Mr. Hegseth, is doing everything it can do to not share critical information with the public. That is problematic.' Since the start of President Trump's second term, the Defense Department has transformed how it typically engages with the press, largely shunning traditional media. Chief Pentagon spokesperson and senior adviser Sean Parnell has briefed the press on camera once since taking on the role in February, and Hegseth has yet to address reporters in the DOD briefing room. When Hegseth does address the media, it's mostly from the White House alongside Trump or while he is traveling. But he has shaped how he is covered on those trips by limiting the number of reporters that come with him — on some trips hand-picking those from more right-leaning outlets that skew toward favorable coverage of the department. When Hegseth traveled to Guantanamo Bay in late February, he took just one reporter, his former colleague, Fox News host Laura Ingraham. Hegseth and Parnell have instead put out near-weekly 'situation reports,' video updates from the Pentagon that espouse positive headlines and commitments to 'transparency.' The DOD Rapid Response X account both plays up positive news about Hegseth and denigrates news stories and reporters that show him in a negative light. Alex Wagner, a former Pentagon official turned public affairs professor at Syracuse University, said the channeling of all communication into 'easily retweeted videos that are highly scripted without any chance for questions' undermines servicemembers and confidence that defense leaders have their best interests at heart. 'It's absolutely critical that the people who are serving and sacrificing and their families understand not only what is happening to service members and their dependents, but also why it's happening,' Wagner told The Hill. 'I'm just surprised President Trump and his team are allowing it, given their repeated affirmations that they are running the most transparent administration in history,' he added, pointing to the contrast with the White House and State Department, where officials regularly brief the media. Things are only getting worse for the Pentagon press corps. Just working in the building has become arduous for many outlets after Hegseth's office in early February took away the desks of eight legacy media outlets: NBC News, the New York Times, NPR, Politico, CNN, The Washington Post, The Hill and War Zone. The reporters had to vacate their spaces for outlets more sympathetic to the Trump administration, including One America News Network, the New York Post, Breitbart News, Newsmax, the Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller and the Free Press. DOD called the shifts a 'media rotation program,' but the move was bashed by the Pentagon Press Association, which called it 'unreasonable.' Later that same month, the Pentagon banned reporters from the press briefing room unless officials were holding a briefing — which has only happened once in more than five months. This barred media from one of the few places in the building that had access to wifi to file stories. And last month, after a string of embarrassing headlines for Hegseth, including that he mishandled sensitive information in March when he relayed over Signal detailed plans to strike Houthi militants in Yemen — to a group chat that included a journalist — the Pentagon barred reporters from freely walking certain areas of the building. Areas off limits now include Hegseth's office spaces and the Joint Staff office spaces 'without an official approval and escort from the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs,' according to a May 23 memo signed by the Pentagon chief. The decision limits press access to hallways they have historically had access to under past Republican and Democratic presidential administrations, with Parnell on X calling the restrictions 'pragmatic changes to protect operational security.' It also eliminates 'the media's freedom to freely access press officers for the military services who are specifically hired to respond to press queries,' the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement. The group further called the restrictions 'a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America's right to know what its military is doing.' The National Press Club urged DOD to reverse course, as 'restricting access doesn't protect national security. It undermines public trust,' the organization's President Mike Balsamo said in a statement. And a third press group, Military Reporters & Editors, said it was 'deeply troubled' by the restrictions, the likes of which hadn't been seen before at the Pentagon. 'This isn't meant to protect the republic, it is designed to impose a chill,' the organization said in a statement. 'It is a disservice to the American public, troops, veterans and families who rely on a dedicated free press to shine the light on matters of vital interest.' Further limitations are likely coming, with Hegseth's memo alluding to reporters having to soon sign a pledge to protect sensitive military information or risk losing their press badge. 'It's as if there's a separate standard for transparency and accountability that the Pentagon is not upholding under Secretary Hegseth that they're asking others to uphold,' said Katz. 'This is disconcerting for the American public that relies on the media to understand in a transparent, accountable way what the Pentagon is doing. And right now, Americans are losing faith that one of the most important national security institutions is not being truthful,' he added.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hegseth Pentagon Ridiculed Over ‘Next Level Cringe' AI Flub
The Department of Defense got absolutely shredded after uploading an AI-generated picture of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with his pinky missing. Posted by the DOD Rapid Response's account on X, the image features a stern-faced rendering of Hegseth standing beside a border fence beneath a billowing American flag while raising a three-fingered hand as a trio of nefarious figures watch on. One of the masked men holds a box of ever-so-subtly labelled 'DRUGS' with the caption '100% Operational Control.' Many online commentators were quick to point out that Hegseth not only appears to be standing on the wrong side of the fence but is also facing away from the bad guys and even raising his sadly mutilated hand as if acting like their bodyguard. Others wondered which of America's 50 states the 32 stars on Hegseth's flag are supposed to represent as well as which one of the original 13 colonies appears to have been dropped from its stripes. The blunder comes at a delicate time for Hegseth as rumours mount about the White House's dissatisfaction with his performance after a series of embarrassing gaffes, security breaches, and unhinged public appearances over the past few weeks. The most acute criticism has focused on his central role in the Signalgate scandal, which first broke after The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was accidentally added to a group chat in which Hegseth and other top members of the Trump administration discussed highly sensitive details of imminent missile strikes in Yemen. In the weeks since, it has emerged that the defense secretary also shared details of those plans via chats with his lawyer, wife, and brother in addition to bypassing security protocols to install the app on his office computer at the Pentagon. He also used the same phone number on various other platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Airbnb, and a fantasy sports site.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Pentagon's unusual new online hype man really wants you to know that the troops love Pete Hegseth
An unusual new Pentagon account is an online cheerleader for the defense secretary. The DOD Rapid Response account on X and Facebook mirrors a similar White House account. The account is run by a former right-wing podcaster who now works in communications at the defense department. A new Pentagon account on X and Facebook has been hyping up Pete Hegseth with videos of jogs, handshakes, and football throws and taking shots at unfavorable media coverage like Signalgate. The account, known as "DOD Rapid Response," has more than 155,000 followers on X and says it supports "the Mission Of @SecDef And Fighting Against Fake News!" It is managed by Graham Allen, a former conservative podcaster who is now the Defense Department's director of digital media. Its initial tweet in late February featured a clip of Hegseth defending the abrupt firing of top military leaders with the caption: "Newsflash: The American people VOTED for radical change and TRANSPARENCY!! A shakeup at the DOD is WHAT THEY EXPECT!!" Allen is a veteran of the Mississippi National Guard, where he served as an IT technician and a military truck operator. He deployed twice to Iraq during his military service, Army public affairs told BI. Experts in civil-military relations and communications said the account's content — which features the frequent use of exclamation points, emojis, and capitalizations for emphasis — marks a noticeable departure from past DoD communications. The account focuses heavily on the new secretary of defense, who maintains personal and official X accounts. It has amplified posts from other officials praising Hegseth's virtues, calling out mainstream media "hoaxes and lies," and refuting concerns about Hegseth and other top Trump officials using the unsecured Signal app to discuss pending military operations. The account has lately been really pushing the message that servicemembers love the defense chief. "SecDef is loved by our nation's warfighters," read an April 2 post that retweeted a Breitbart story saying Hegseth "earned respect" from special operations troops after working out with them. One day earlier, the account posted a video clip of Hegseth tossing a football around with cheering midshipmen at the Naval Academy. "This is why he's America's @SecDef," the caption read. Another post from the trip said, "One thing is clear, the future of our nation's @USNavy and @USMC LOVES our @SecDef." Since his confirmation, Hegseth has been visiting military bases, doling out handshakes to some of the 1.3 million active-duty troops he oversees. He is a veteran of the Army National Guard. This is fairly common practice for Pentagon chiefs, though many troops in the rank and file privately grumble over the "dog-and-pony show" that comes with it. Visits can often require intensive cleaning and "beautification" efforts by troops, followed by hours of waiting to receive the VIPs in auditoriums or chow halls filled with troops usually required to attend by senior officers. Beyond celebrating Hegseth and promoting an image for the new secretary of defense, the account is also focused on shielding him from criticism. In the last week, it has called reports in the Daily Beast and Politico "fake news" and accused a reporter of being disconnected from reality. The account took a dig at CNN on March 27, saying that while the outlet has its anonymous sources, "@SecDef has the love of the Troops!!" An accompanying video clip showed Hegseth shaking hands with soldiers. The account seems to mirror the language and approach of a "Rapid Response 47" X account focused on President Donald Trump. This kind of social media account represents a shift from past defense secretaries and their public messaging, said Jason Dempsey, a senior fellow of the Center for a New American Security's Military, Veterans, and Society Program. It's nothing new for Pentagon-run social media accounts to feature photos of officials glad-handing troops. But the accompanying messaging has historically been more focused on strategy, such as highlighting foreign relationships with other militaries or showcasing US troops in training events, Dempsey told BI. Dempsey said it's historically unusual to focus so heavily on the defense secretary personally and convey troops' "love" for them. "That's what you get when you change out your Secretary of Defense for an influencer," Dempsey said, saying that "it's government by influencers and TV personalities." Before his nomination to be Trump's defense secretary, Hegseth was a Fox & Friends Weekend host. Allen, who the Office of the Secretary of Defense said runs the DoD Rapid Response account, was previously a contributor for the conservative Turning Point USA movement and also ran the "Dear America" podcast. He made a play for a South Carolina congressional seat in 2021 but dropped out in early 2022. He is a vocal and influential figure on social media; he has over 3 million followers on Facebook and another half a million followers on X. Allen did not respond to BI's requests for comment. Renee Hobbs, a professor of communication studies at the University of Rhode Island, said that the posted videos of Hegseth among smiling and clapping troops and the captions about their love for him look a lot like propaganda. She told BI it's likely part of a broader strategy to build support from within the armed forces. "The 'common man' strategy, with its 'he's one of us' themes, is a classic technique" in propaganda and American politics, she said. It's designed to evoke emotions and spur feelings of loyalty. The way Hegseth dresses may be part of such an everyman strategy; he often dons a kind of "operator casual" look when he travels to meet the troops. It's "basically tapping into perceived similarity," Hobbs said in a phone interview. "It's really effective because most of the time, we're not aware of that. We don't understand how that kind of persuasion is working on us, we just react to it." "As a TV personality, these kinds of messages play to his strengths," she said, adding that "posting pictures of himself on social media every day is effective if he's aiming to communicate a message that the brass doesn't like him, but the troops do." Hegseth has made having a grounded connection with the troops a key part of his image, especially amid questions about his qualifications; he was narrowly confirmed as a secretary of defense with a tie-breaker vote. He has characterized himself as a "change agent" unlike his predecessors, senior leaders with more experience. The defense secretary said in the past that he prefers engaging with the troops because "it's not that long ago that I was right there with them." He told reporters in February, "I probably connect more with those guys than I do with four-star generals." Hegseth has faced mounting criticism since he became the secretary of defense, most recently for amateurish communications of sensitive military information via the Signal messaging app, which he said was "clean on OPSEC." Troops know such communications to be ill-advised due to the annual privacy and cyber training requirements they are required to complete. To what extent the posted photo ops with the troops reflect genuine attitudes toward their civilian leader is unclear and arguably unimportant — Hegseth is the highest authority in the military chain of command save the president. Read the original article on Business Insider
