The Pentagon has reportedly banned some photographers from briefings on Donald Trump’s war in Iran after Pete Hegseth’s staff found photo of the defense secretary “unflattering.”
As the war enters its 12th day and the casualties pile up, the former Fox News host’s vanity has once again taken center stage after members of Hegseth’s team took issue with the way he looked in photographs.
The decision, first reported by the Washington Post, reportedly took place following a March 2 briefing Hegseth gave after Trump announced America had launched a wave of strikes against Iran.
Several outlets, including the Associated Press, Reuters, and Getty Images, were sent to the briefing.
However, according to the Post, officials inside the Pentagon objected to some of the images taken there, leading the defense secretary’s staff to shut out certain press photographers from two follow-up briefings on March 4 and March 10.
Pentagon Secretary Kingsley Wilson rejected the report, telling the Daily Beast in a statement: “In order to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively, we are allowing one representative per news outlet if uncredentialed, excluding pool.
“Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use. If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”
The episode fits a broader pattern of tightening press access under Hegseth—and of his reputation for carefully managing his on-camera image.
Last year, for instance, the TV personality-turned-defense secretary came under fire after reports that a green room near the Pentagon briefing area had been modified into a space equipped with mirrors and lighting so officials could prepare for television appearances.
Initial renovation ideas were estimated to cost tens of thousands of dollars before being scaled back, though Hegseth publicly dismissed the coverage as a “fake story.”
Last year, the Pentagon required reporters to sign off on new rules governing access and information-gathering to obtain a media pass.
Many traditional national security reporters refused to sign on, allowing the expansion of MAGA-friendly outlets across outlets such as Lindell TV (run by conspiracy theorist and My Pillow Guy chief Mike Lindell), Breitbart News, and the Gateway Pundit.
The Post’s report comes as the human toll of the Iran conflict continues to mount.
At least eight U.S. service members have been killed since the start of the war, including six reservists killed in a drone strike on a base in Kuwait, along with an estimated 1300 Iranians.
The Pentagon revealed on Tuesday that 140 American troops have also been wounded, with eight suffering severe injuries requiring extensive medical treatment.
And according to CBS News, “an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait that killed U.S. service members in the early hours of the war with Iran was more severe than previously known, with dozens suffering injuries that included brain trauma, shrapnel trauma and burns, per sources.”
In a post on X, Jennifer Jacobs noted: “More than 30 remained in hospitals yday (sic) with battle injuries—one at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, 12 at Walter Reed, and about 25 at Landstuhl in Germany, sources said.
“Of those, about 20 arrived on a C-17 military transport aircraft at Landstuhl on Tuesday with injuries the military designated as “urgent” and requiring evacuation. More than 100 medical personnel were sent to Landstuhl to assist."
As Trump comes under pressure to find an exit strategy, Hegseth appeared at another press conference on Tuesday, telling reporters: “Our will is endless” when it comes to the war.
“But what I want the American people to understand is this is not endless,” he insisted.
“It’s not protracted. We’re not allowing mission creep. The president has set a very specific mission to accomplish, and our job is to unrelentingly deliver that,” he told reporters.
“Now he gets to control the throttle. He’s the one deciding. He’s the one elected on behalf of the American people when we’re achieving those particular objectives. And so it’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, the middle, or the end.”
