… Trump signs Executive order renaming Pentagon ‘Department of War’, formal renaming requires Congress to act
*Crackdown on independent reporting and limiting the flow of information on military operations begin
*Draconian new memo prohibits reporters’ unprofessional conduct that might serve to disrupt Pentagon operations, attempts to improperly obtain classified or unclassified information deemed ‘controlled’
*Rule states: “Department of War information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified to the press”
*“The head of the Pentagon police shall deny, revoke, or refuse to renew the Pentagon Media Credential of any person reasonably determined to pose a security or safety risk to Department of War personnel or property”– Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell
*”We won the first World War, we won the Second World War, we won everything before that and in between. And then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to the Department of Defense. So, we’re going Department of War”-TRUMP
*BY DR. GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/Executive Editor & Group Managing Director, NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER Inc USA
Fear, anxiety and palpable tension are presently written on the faces of news media professionals in the United States, with the independency of the free press facing one of the toughest challenges of all times in ‘land of the free’, ‘a shinning city on the heal’.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday unveiled unprecedented new restrictions on building access for Pentagon reporters that prompted worries among media outlets that the policy would be used to crack down on independent reporting and limit the flow of information on military operations. President Donald Trump signed an executive order same day renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War, (DoW).
The sweeping new rules to access the building prohibit “unprofessional conduct that might serve to disrupt Pentagon operations,” as well as “attempts to improperly obtain” classified or unclassified information deemed “controlled,” according to a memo released to reporters.
Reporters who decline to agree to the terms or are found violating the rules would lose access to the building, the memo states.
The document sent to press outlets also notes: “DoW (Department of War) information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
“The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon – the people do,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. “The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules-or go home.”
Built in the 1940s in Arlington, Virginia, the Pentagon is now one of the largest office buildings in the world with tens of thousands of uniformed and civilian personnel who work there. Visitor groups are frequently given tours. Reporters have long been given access badges they must always wear, as well as designated workspaces, which enable real-time reporting on military operations, including during wartime.
The new rules take effect next week, impacting reporters in waves depending upon when their current badges expire. If reporters reject the rules, it appears to be the first time in history that major national news outlets would lose their 24-7 access to unclassified spaces in the Pentagon.
Reporters would still be allowed to visit the building so long as they were accompanied by an escort and stated a reason for their visit.
“This entire effort is extremely troubling because it’s being done in an era of unprecedented public hostility from the secretary of defense to the news media,” said Barbara Starr, a former Pentagon correspondent for Cables News network (CNN) who is now a senior fellow at the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Communication, Leadership and Policy.
Starr, who began covering the Defense Department during Operation Desert Storm, said it wasn’t clear from the policy exactly what criteria would be used by Hegseth’s office to pull someone’s pass.
“Everyone understands possession of classified information poses legal jeopardy,” Starr said. “But it’s the responsibility of the officials who journalists speak to, to say, ‘I can’t talk about that. It’s classified.'”
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said “the guidelines in the memo provided to credentialed resident media at the Pentagon reaffirms the standards that are already in line with every other military base in the country. These are basic, common-sense guidelines to protect sensitive information as well as the protection of national security and the safety of all who work at the Pentagon.”
The Pentagon Press Association said it was aware of the new directive regarding badge access and was reviewing it.
Existing rules say reporters can be subject to searches leaving the building — a longtime stipulation for anyone accessing the Pentagon to prevent the misuse of classified information.
Earlier this year, Hegseth insisted that reporters shouldn’t be allowed to walk through certain hallways without an escort, even if the spaces themselves are unclassified. Under the new requirements, reporters would still be prevented from walking to most areas outside the food court and would have to swap out their badges with bright red or orange passes.
According to the new rules, the head of the Pentagon police “shall deny, revoke, or refuse to renew the PFAC of any person reasonably determined to pose a security or safety risk to DoW (Department of War) personnel or property.”
That standard would include such acts as treason and terrorism. But it also would include “unprofessional conduct that might serve to disrupt Pentagon operations,” the new policy stated.
“Additionally, actions other than conviction may be deemed to pose a security or safety risk, such as attempts to improperly obtain CNSI (classified national security information) or CUI (confidential unclassified information) or being found in physical possession of CNSI or CUI without reporting,” according to the memo.
The formal renaming of the department would require Congress to act, but the order is expected to say the new name can be used in official correspondence and ceremonial contexts and non-statutory documents.
The Secretary of Defense may also use the title of Secretary of War under the order, the White House confirmed.
“I think it’s a much more appropriate name, especially in light of where the world is right now. We have the strongest military in the world. We have the greatest equipment in the world. We have the greatest manufacturers of equipment by far. There’s nobody to even compete,” Trump said in the Oval Office, where he was flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth said the name change was about “restoring the warrior ethos” in the military.
Trump had teased the change for months, stating he didn’t believe the name “Department of Defense” was strong enough.
“We won the first World War, we won the Second World War, we won everything before that and in between. And then we decided to go woke and we changed the name to the Department of Defense. So, we’re going Department of War,” Trump said on Friday.
Trump told reporters he didn’t think he needed congressional approval to change the name.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. But I’m not sure they have to,” he said on Friday.
When asked how much the change would cost, Trump didn’t give any ballpark figure.
“We know how to rebrand without having to go crazy. We don’t have to recurve a mountain or anything. We’re going to be doing it not in the most expensive-we’re gonna start changing the stationary as it comes due and lots of things like that,” Trump said.
In 1789, the Department of War was created by Congress to oversee the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The Navy was later separated into its own department.
After World War II, President Harry Truman put all armed forces under one organization that was renamed the Department of Defense.
“It was clear from World War II that warfare was going to be joint and combined, so it was just necessary … It was clear to some as early as the 1930s that you would have to integrate military affairs and war and preparations for war, the Treasury Department” with “intelligence, allied policy issues and domestic industrial policy,” said Richard Kohn, a professor of military history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In other words, fighting a war became about more than just war, Kohn said, and the Truman administration wanted a broader agency to encompass all of that.
Additionally, “defense was what was talked about in the 1940s, not just war-making,” Kohn said.
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