The question, asked during a March 4 press conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, was a good one: If the United States had “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear facilities during an operation last June, “what was the intelligence that suggested they somehow once again became a threat that required us to engage in Operation Epic Fury?”
It was asked by Heather Mullins, who works for LindellTV, the television network founded by Mike Lindell, the pillow entrepreneur, Trump cheerleader and 2020 election denier.
On Tuesday, a journalist from the Gateway Pundit, an outlet that “regularly peddles falsehoods and conspiracy theories,” as NPR put it in 2024, asked about reports that the United States is unhappy with its main ally in the operation against Iran, Israel.
“Whether this report is true or not, what is its message to Americans, those who supported the president and those who are not really in favor of this war and who fear that Israel may be taking advantage of US support?” Jordan Conradson asked.
After heavyweights in the Pentagon press corps stood down in October over new restrictions on access and information, many worried how the Trump-friendly media outlets that took their place would fill the void, especially if, say, a war started.
Great fears remain, stoked by questions that border on flattery, but so far, some longtime skeptics in the pro-Maga press corps say they are doing better than expected in questioning Hegseth and the generals who have been called in four times to give briefings and answer questions from a large group of assembled reporters.
“I would say that, with a few exceptions, all the questions have been fair, valid and similar to questions I’ve had in my own notebook,” said a former Pentagon correspondent who attended all four briefings. “Now, they are certainly not asked with the same intensity or precision that I or my colleagues would use, but I think that detracts little from their editorial value.”
Or, as Mark Feldstein, a broadcast journalism professor at the University of Maryland, put it: “Even Pete Hegseth’s hand-picked right-wing media lackeys are starting to raise some of the same obvious questions about the risk of Iran becoming a quagmire that traditional journalists have been raising, a departure from these conservatives’ more traditional role of simply mindlessly cheering every action of the administration.”
In an interview, Barbara Starr, a former CNN Pentagon correspondent, also highlighted the performance of some of the new contingent of media personalities, mostly aligned with Maga, although she said that does not mean traditional journalists should be excluded.
“It’s interesting,” he said, “some of the ‘new media,’ I will say some of them have asked very reasonable and good questions. Some of them are pure propaganda, so I go back to my personal professional belief: everyone should be included.”
A second veteran Pentagon reporter, who also attended a briefing on Iran, was less impressed with the right-wing media’s questioning, calling it “really subpar” and “not really challenging.”
During the March 4 briefing, a correspondent asked about a statement made by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who said in an appearance on CNN that the American people do not want another “endless war in the Middle East that will end in failure.”
The journalist then asked Hegseth: “What kind of message does that send to our enemies and what effect does it have on the motivation of our troops?” It was a layup for Hegseth, a former Fox News personality who made a name attacking Democrats and the mainstream media. “Well, I’ve seen that movie before with the Democrats supporting the country,” the secretary responded.
During the first briefing following the Hegseth attack on March 2, the first question was directed to Alexandra Ingersoll of the far-right One America News Network, who asked what the U.S. “exit strategy” will be and “when it will be implemented.”
The briefing closed, however, with a much softer question directed at Hegseth, asking him what specific prayer he was saying for the American troops on the field. The responses to the question on social media were not kind.
In a change, the Pentagon has allowed many of the traditional reporters who gave up their press passes last fall to attend briefings focused on Iran, although they have mostly been relegated to the back of the room. The Pentagon has reportedly limited briefing room access for news photographers because of Hegseth’s unflattering photos, although it claims it is doing so “to utilize space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively.”
While most of the questions have been directed at journalists from right-wing media, who now occupy the main seats in the meeting room, Hegseth has also called on journalists from the BBC and the New York Times. (On March 4 he called BBC correspondent Tom Bateman, telling him “a tie, right there.”)
Despite Hegseth’s long-running dispute with the Times, he did not attack when national security correspondent Eric Schmitt asked him Tuesday about the war’s timeline and any “adaptations” the Iranian military has made in response to U.S. tactics. (The Pentagon is also currently embroiled in a lawsuit filed by the Times in response to the change in press pass policy.)
“I appreciate the question,” Hegseth began. “We are in a very strong position, giving the president of the United States the maximum of options.”
