{"id":2105850,"date":"2026-08-22T02:55:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T23:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2105850"},"modified":"2026-08-22T02:55:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T23:55:02","slug":"trump-to-rebrand-defense-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2105850","title":{"rendered":"Trump to rebrand Defense Department"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/78060025_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5JEgf<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has increasingly restricted press access to the Pentagon since taking office last year [FILE: Jul 21, 2026]Image: Eric Lee\/REUTERS<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The US Pentagon<\/a>\u00a0has sacked the editor, publisher and a reporter of military newspaper Stars and Stripes after they publicly objected to potential editorial interference, they said on Friday.<\/p>\n

The newspaper, which has been publishing since\u00a0World War II<\/a>, is partially funded by the Defense Department but has remained editorially independent.<\/p>\n

\"Archival
Stars and Stripes is widely read by US troops across the world [FILE: Jan 1, 2000]Image: CPA Media\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do we know about the reasons for the firing?<\/h2>\n

“According to the notice, I am being fired \u200cfor stating in \u2060a CBS \u2060interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a personal red line,” Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n

Slavin received a notice of separation for insubordination, as did Publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, Slavin was cited by the Associated Press<\/em> as saying.<\/p>\n

Lederer, who has served as the newspaper’s publisher since 2007, had announced his intention\u00a0to retire from his position in September.<\/p>\n

In an email announcing his retirement, Lederer had said it was clear that the Pentagon had a new vision for the newspaper which differed from his own.<\/p>\n

It came a few weeks after the Pentagon installed Navy Captain William Urban, an active duty serviceman, as the outlet’s deputy editor, without Lederer’s prior knowledge.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Korte said on social media she was being fired for insubordination\u00a0“after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes \u2013 not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.”<\/p>\n

“It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

What is the Pentagon’s relationship with the media under Trump?<\/h2>\n

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been extremely critical of the media since taking office in 2025. Among the measures he took was\u00a0drastically restricting press access<\/a> to the Pentagon.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters,\u201d Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s spokesman, wrote in January on X. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”<\/p>\n

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. said<\/a> Slavin’s firing was “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military,”<\/a> adding that it should be immediately reversed.<\/p>\n

“Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the US\u00a0military who depends on independent reporting,” Schoeff said.<\/p>\n

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Trump to rebrand Defense Department<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Rana Taha<\/em><\/p>\n

If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google by clicking here<\/a> and hitting the “star” or “preferred” button, so you’ll always see our verified news first.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

The US Pentagon<\/a>\u00a0has sacked the editor, publisher and a reporter of military newspaper Stars and Stripes after they publicly objected to potential editorial interference, they said on Friday.<\/p>\n

The newspaper, which has been publishing since\u00a0World War II<\/a>, is partially funded by the Defense Department but has remained editorially independent.<\/p>\n

\"Archival
Stars and Stripes is widely read by US troops across the world [FILE: Jan 1, 2000]Image: CPA Media\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do we know about the reasons for the firing?<\/h2>\n

“According to the notice, I am being fired \u200cfor stating in \u2060a CBS \u2060interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a personal red line,” Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n

Slavin received a notice of separation for insubordination, as did Publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, Slavin was cited by the Associated Press<\/em> as saying.<\/p>\n

Lederer, who has served as the newspaper’s publisher since 2007, had announced his intention\u00a0to retire from his position in September.<\/p>\n

In an email announcing his retirement, Lederer had said it was clear that the Pentagon had a new vision for the newspaper which differed from his own.<\/p>\n

It came a few weeks after the Pentagon installed Navy Captain William Urban, an active duty serviceman, as the outlet’s deputy editor, without Lederer’s prior knowledge.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Korte said on social media she was being fired for insubordination\u00a0“after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes \u2013 not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.”<\/p>\n

“It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

What is the Pentagon’s relationship with the media under Trump?<\/h2>\n

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been extremely critical of the media since taking office in 2025. Among the measures he took was\u00a0drastically restricting press access<\/a> to the Pentagon.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters,\u201d Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s spokesman, wrote in January on X. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”<\/p>\n

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. said<\/a> Slavin’s firing was “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military,”<\/a> adding that it should be immediately reversed.<\/p>\n

“Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the US\u00a0military who depends on independent reporting,” Schoeff said.<\/p>\n

\n

Trump to rebrand Defense Department<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Rana Taha<\/em><\/p>\n

If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google by clicking here<\/a> and hitting the “star” or “preferred” button, so you’ll always see our verified news first.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The US Pentagon<\/a>\u00a0has sacked the editor, publisher and a reporter of military newspaper Stars and Stripes after they publicly objected to potential editorial interference, they said on Friday.<\/p>\n

The newspaper, which has been publishing since\u00a0World War II<\/a>, is partially funded by the Defense Department but has remained editorially independent.<\/p>\n

“According to the notice, I am being fired \u200cfor stating in \u2060a CBS \u2060interview that hypothetical censorship of news for service members would constitute a personal red line,” Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n

Slavin received a notice of separation for insubordination, as did Publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte, Slavin was cited by the Associated Press<\/em> as saying.<\/p>\n

Lederer, who has served as the newspaper’s publisher since 2007, had announced his intention\u00a0to retire from his position in September.<\/p>\n

In an email announcing his retirement, Lederer had said it was clear that the Pentagon had a new vision for the newspaper which differed from his own.<\/p>\n

It came a few weeks after the Pentagon installed Navy Captain William Urban, an active duty serviceman, as the outlet’s deputy editor, without Lederer’s prior knowledge.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Korte said on social media she was being fired for insubordination\u00a0“after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes \u2013 not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.”<\/p>\n

“It’s a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve the right to a free and independent press,” she wrote.<\/p>\n

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been extremely critical of the media since taking office in 2025. Among the measures he took was\u00a0drastically restricting press access<\/a> to the Pentagon.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Stars and Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters,\u201d Sean Parnell, Hegseth’s spokesman, wrote in January on X. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”<\/p>\n

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff Jr. said<\/a> Slavin’s firing was “another brazen attempt by the Pentagon to dictate coverage of the military,”<\/a> adding that it should be immediately reversed.<\/p>\n

“Firing a newspaper editor after he publicly defended his newsroom’s editorial independence is deeply troubling, and it should concern every journalist and every member of the US\u00a0military who depends on independent reporting,” Schoeff said.<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by: Rana Taha<\/em><\/p>\n

If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google by clicking here<\/a> and hitting the “star” or “preferred” button, so you’ll always see our verified news first.<\/em><\/p>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/78060025_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5JEgf US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has increasingly restricted press access to the Pentagon since taking office last year [FILE: Jul 21, 2026]Image: Eric Lee\/REUTERS The US Pentagon\u00a0has sacked the editor, publisher and a reporter of military newspaper Stars and Stripes after they publicly objected to potential editorial interference, they said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-2105850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2105850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2105850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2105850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2105850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2105850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2105850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}