The Pentagon announced Friday evening that it is revoking workspace access for CNN and three other media outlets, reallocating the spaces to conservative news organizations.
The decision comes as part of a broader effort to provide non-legacy media with workspace opportunities inside the building.
CNN’s designated workspace, which has been used for live broadcasts, will now be assigned to Newsmax.
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Additionally, The Washington Post, The Hill, and military news blog The War Zone have been informed that their workspaces inside the Pentagon will be reassigned.
This latest move follows an earlier decision last week in which the Pentagon reassigned workspaces previously occupied by The New York Times, NBC News, National Public Radio, and Politico.
Those spaces were given to The New York Post, One America News Network (OANN), Breitbart News Network, and The Huffington Post.
BREAKING: President Trump’s Pentagon just REMOVED:
CNN, NBC News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, POLITICO, The Hill, and NPR…
And replaced them with:
Newsmax, OAN, New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, and Breitbart.
FAKE NEWS, YOU’RE FIRED! pic.twitter.com/HDj7IJ8xFN
— Bo Loudon (@BoLoudon) February 8, 2025
For decades, the Pentagon has allocated workspace to journalists covering defense and military affairs, with many legacy media outlets holding their desks for years.
However, the Trump administration has moved to restructure access, allowing alternative media outlets the same opportunity to report from within the building.
According to a memo issued by Acting Press Secretary John Ullyot, the goal of the changes “is to broaden access to the limited office spaces of the Correspondents’ Corridor to outlets that have not previously enjoyed the privilege of working from those spaces.”
Following the initial reassignments last week, the Pentagon Press Association (PPA) issued a statement expressing concerns over what it described as an unfair targeting of specific outlets.
The PPA requested a meeting with Ullyot to discuss the decision and its impact on affected news organizations.
In response, Ullyot indicated that additional outlets were asked to vacate their workspaces to address those concerns.
“To minimize any strategic disadvantage to impacted outlets relative to their competitors who retain office space in the building, the annual rotation of outlets will be doubled to eight comparable outlets in various mediums,” Ullyot stated in the memo.
The Pentagon Press Association issued a second statement following the additional reassignments, saying it was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the decision to expand the changes.
“The Pentagon Press Association is shocked and deeply disappointed by the Defense Department’s decision to double the number of news organizations it is removing in two weeks from their dedicated workspaces in the Pentagon from four to eight,” the statement read.
The PPA contended that its outreach efforts to the Defense Department had not led to reconsideration of the policy, arguing that the move unfairly disadvantages organizations that have covered military affairs for decades.
“Instead of reconsidering its approach after good faith outreach this week from more than 20 news organizations, the Defense Department appears to be doubling down on an unreasonable policy toward news outlets that have covered the U.S. military for decades,” the statement continued.
BREAKING: The Pentagon kicks out CNN from their workspace! pic.twitter.com/9HILNtksDC
— Kristina Wong (@kristina_wong) February 8, 2025
The PPA emphasized that it welcomes new members into the Pentagon press corps but does not believe space constraints justify the removals.
It also stated that it had offered to help arrange workspace accommodations for all outlets but that its proposal was dismissed.
“We are studying this unfortunate decision and its implications for all of our members, since this is being presented as an annual occurrence,” the PPA added.
However, it confirmed that the Defense Department has assured current PPA members will retain their credentials to access the Pentagon building.
The decision marks a significant shift in how the Pentagon allocates workspace to media organizations, reshaping access for journalists covering national defense.
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