Press photographers were reportedly barred from Pentagon press briefings after Pete Hegseth‘s staff became irked over unflattering photos of the defense secretary. The office of the notoriously vain Cabinet member — a former Fox News host who had a hair and makeup studio built in the Pentagon shortly after being confirmed — should probably have more important things on his mind, chiefly the war in Iran, and, perhaps, the elementary school there that the United States appears to have bombed.
According to a Wednesday report from The Washington Post, press pool photographers were banned from briefings on March 4 and March 10 after taking and publishing what sources described as “unflattering” images of Hegseth. The Post noted that the White House had declined to comment on the decision to exclude the photographers. The White House took exception, with Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly sharing an email reply to the publication with an off-topic quip over the newspaper’s recent layoff of more than 300 journalists, but no actual response to the Post’s question about the concern over Hegseth’s image.
The National Press Club responded on Wednesday, with President Mark Schoeff Jr. writing that the Pentagon’s decision “is deeply troubling and runs counter to the fundamental principles of transparency in a democratic society,” adding that “when the government decides which images the public is allowed to see, transparency is replaced by control.” PEN America also responded, calling the decision to bar photographers a “petty act of retaliation.”
Hegseth and the Pentagon are currently waging a messy offensive against Iran that has spilled over into much of the Gulf region while wreaking havoc on global financial markets.
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that a preliminary military investigation into an alleged “double tap” bombing of a girls’ elementary school that killed at least 175 people in southern Iran found the United States responsible. Independent investigations by the Times, BBC Verify, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. determined the strikes were likely American. They were allegedly carried out with two Tomahawk missiles, which are American-made and only sold to a select few allies.
Despite an abundance of information suggesting the school was struck by the United States as a result of outdated or incorrect intelligence, Trump offered up his own explanation: Iran had done it to themselves. In a weekend interview on Air Force One, Trump told reporters that “based on” what he’d seen “it was done by Iran. They are very inaccurate with their munitions.” Hegseth, who was also on the plane, said the Pentagon was “investigating” the matter.
On Monday, Trump was pressed by reporters on how he came to that conclusion, particularly given that the American munitions used in the strike were not available to Iran. Trump walked back the statement, but only barely, saying that he just doesn’t “know enough about it. It’s something I was told is under investigation.” The White House later added that Trump would “accept” the conclusions of an investigation into the matter.
By Wednesday, after the Times reported on the preliminary results of the Pentagon’s investigation, Trump said he didn’t know about it. The exchange went like this:
Reporter: A new report says that a military investigation has found that it was the United States that struck the school in Iran. As commander in chief, do you take responsibility?
Trump: For what?
Reporter: A strike on a school in Iran.
Trump: I don’t know about that.
Hegseth has yet to comment on the findings within his department, but earlier this month berated reporters at the Pentagon for wanting “to make the president look bad” by reporting and asking questions about American casualties related to the war. According to a report from Politico, Hegseth’s gutting of the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence — a 200-person department that would have investigated such a deadly error for civilians — has contributed to the Pentagon’s sloppy handling of the offensive.
On Tuesday, Hegseth told reporters that “no nation takes more precautions to ensure there’s never targeting of civilians than the United States of America.” The defense secretary and his staff seem to be putting more work into the protection of his public image than the lives of both American service members and elementary school children in Iran.
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