October 15, 2025 • 10 mins
Bo and Beth welcome Retired Major General John Meyer to get his take on the new Pentagon Press policy after a majority of major networks refuse to sign the new policy rolled out by Secretary Hegseth.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is Good Morning BT with Bo Thompson and Beth Troutmick.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Seven minutes past eight o'clock on WBT on this Wednesday morning,
October fifteenth. No doubt you've been following the saga at
the Pentagon with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth updating the
rules for media members there to cover goings on at
the Pentagon. This was yesterday as President Trump and Secretary
(00:37):
Hegseth were asked about where this is?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Will you consider removing new restrictions on the press that
reported the Pentagon? And have you spoken to Secretary Hegseth
about this?
Speaker 4 (00:46):
I have, Well, he's finding I mean, I think I
can speak from and let him speak for himself, but
I think he finds the press to be very disruptive
in terms of world peace and maybe security for our nation.
Very dishonest. Not you, but the press is very dishonest.
Speaker 5 (01:03):
You have something to say, Well, very much appreciate the question,
because it was interesting to watch. We had a chance
to go alone on the historic trip of Middle East peace,
which our generation of veterans never dreamed would be possible.
So you would think that the Pentagon Press Corps, of
all press corps would be front and center across the
board on wanting to give credit to the president for
(01:25):
forging this kind of peace and understand instead what they
want to talk about as a policy about.
Speaker 6 (01:30):
Them, which simply says, maybe the policy should look like
the White House or other military installations where you have
to wear a badge that identifies that your press or
you can't just roam anywhere you want. It used to
be as president, the press could go anywhere pretty much
anywhere in the Pentagon, the most classified area in the world.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Or also that if they.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
Sign onto the credential link, they're not going to try
to get soldiers to break the law by giving classified information.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
So it's common sense stuff, mister President.
Speaker 6 (01:59):
We're trying to make sure national security is respected, and
we're proud of the policy.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
It bothers me to have soldiers and even you know,
high ranking generals walking around with you guys on this leeve,
because they can make a mistake, and a mistake can
be tragic. They can do it innotantly too. They can,
you know, and they're not press people. They don't really
deal with the press, so they're not I'm really necessarily
good at it, although I think it's mostly instinctual one
(02:26):
way or the other area the good at things or
you're not. But I could see you being bothered by that.
And so you have them in an area and you
treat them fairly, but they're not allowed to go into
looks like somebody's office and sit with them for ten hours.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I can so that was yesterday. The deadline has come
and gone for media outlets to assign a pledge to
abide by the new updated rules as put in place
by Secretary Hegstath. We have on the WBT hotline right now,
former Chief of Army Public Affairs, a Major General John Meyer,
is with us. Good morning sir, Good morning Boe. How
(03:04):
you doing doing well? And got Beth Troutman here with me,
and we thought that we would get somebody on here
who might have a better perspective to make sense of
all this than we do. This is an interesting story
to watch from afar. But I know from your standpoint
and your background, you probably have a different perspective on this.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I do have a different perspective on it. And I
heard what you just played, and how do not support
that supposition? Basically, Secretary Headsef said, reporters cannot obtain or
solicit any information the Department offents does not explicitly authorize.
That's just not a smart policy. It's going to cause
(03:47):
all kinds of problems. It runs counter to the Constitution's
guarantee of freedom of the press. It undercuts the First
Amendment protections. It stifles the flow of information. It restricts
your liability to keep the nation in the world informed
of important national security matters. Additionally, it lacks transparency and accountability.
(04:10):
Taxpayers fund the military, they have a right to know.
The more informed people are, the better they can make
an opinion or form a decision. It has the feel
to me of a cover up. It shields a department
offense from scrutiny, and most importantly, it eliminates the relationship
(04:30):
building with the media. When I was a Chief of
Army Public Affairs, one of the success stories was you
need to build a relationship with the media where there's
trust on both sides. And if you build that relationship
and there's trust and you work with each other, usually
get a balanced story. And that's what you can expect
(04:54):
from a journalist. You want to balance story so in
my opinion, I think I think this is going to
cause more problems than not, and it's unnecessary and it's
not accurate the way the media is being portrayed in
the Pentagon. They do not just roam the halls of
the Pentagon needlessly, in my judgment.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well that was that was one of the questions because
you worked as the chief of Public Affairs for the
United States Army when you were working with the press,
what was the access, you know, how was the how
did the process work, and how is the story that's
now being told about, you know, press access, How does
it differ from what you experienced.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
The media in the Pentagon is being portrayed as running
rapid with no restrictions. That's just not true. They have
to be approved to receive a badge to get into
the Pentagon and work in the Pentagon. They cannot have
access to any classified information, and there are certain rules
and regulations they have to follow, and those rules and
(06:00):
regulation have been in place for decades across multiple administrations
and both parties. The media just doesn't walk in the
hall and walk into your door and after nine to
eleven doors are not open. All the doors are shut,
all the doors are locked and you have to press
a button to get in. So what bothers me is
(06:24):
the media is being portrayed in an erroneous manner in
my judgment.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
We're talking to former Chief of Army Public Affairs, Major
General John Meyer here on WBT, talking about the Pete
Hegseth situation with the new rules for or I guess,
updated rules for media members covering goings on at the Pentagon. Now,
ABC News, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox, where Hegseth of
(06:51):
course used to work, issued a joint statement yesterday afternoon
condemning the new rules and refusing to sign the paperwork.
They said, quote, today we joined virtually every other news
organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon's new requirements,
which would restrict journalist's ability to keep the nation and
the world informed of important national security issues unquote. So
(07:13):
General Meyer, if I mean it appears that only one
outlet it's a OAN, has agreed to this. All the
rest of them, including Fox, have said no. So what
do you think happens now? If this goes forward as
it is, I mean, I assume they're going to have
some sort of negotiation. But if they're all locked out,
and they remain locked out, then what sort of scenario
(07:35):
do you think that presents?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Not a good scenario because the media is still going
to cover the Pentagon, so they're now going to have
to get their information from sources The Secretary of Defense
may not prefer. This is in my judgment, this is
going to cause more leaks to occur. And as a
(07:59):
senior leader in the department, you don't like leaps. But
the whole thing is this, you, as the Secretary of Defense,
want to get out the most favorable story about your
organization as you can. So if you don't tell your
side of the story, if you don't give journalists the
opportunity to research and talk to people, they don't have
(08:22):
an obligation to print your side of the story. So
this is just going to make it more difficult. He's
going to get more frustrated. And what they should be
doing is they should be doing developing a relationship with
the military with the media where they can have access
and you can have restrictions on the kind of access.
(08:43):
And I don't support the supposition that generals are walking
around with journalists hanging all over them and they don't
know what they're doing. When I was Chief of Ripublic Affairs,
I got the Army leadership to agree to put every
new general through a three hour media training course where
we had set them down and had different kind of
(09:06):
interviews and talk to them about how to develop a
relationship with the media and train them how to get
the story out, how to handle an adversarial story. So,
in my judgment, his policy is going to cause more
problems than they have before.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Were you surprised that this was a policy that Pete
Hagsath himself came up with, given that he used to
be a member of the media.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Not really, because in late January his office removed four
news outlets from their Pentagon workspace and they replaced them
with outlets more favorable with more favorable coverage to the
Trump administration. In May, secretary has said restricted journalists from
most hallways of the Pentagon without an escort. He hasn't
(09:54):
given a Pentagon press briefing in four months, and his
secretary his press work has not conducted a briefing in
two months. On the other hand, his boss, President Trump,
does a media event almost every day on any subject.
So you have two extremes there. I think the president
(10:17):
does too many interviews and his message order gets lost
because it's so frequent, and the secretary gives way too few.
There's a balance in between there that has worked in
the past very effectively in my judgment.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Well, we appreciate your judgment and your perspective and exactly
why we wanted to talk to you. And we like
talking to people who've been in these rooms, in these
areas that get talked about that many of us don't
have access to doing what we do. Beth and myself
so former Chief of Army Public Affairs and Major General
John Meyer. It's an honor to have you on and
thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Sir. Thank you all very much, and you all have
a good day.
From News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is Good Morning BT with Bo Thompson and Beth Troutmick.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Seven minutes past eight o'clock on WBT on this Wednesday morning,
October fifteenth. No doubt you've been following the saga at
the Pentagon with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth updating the
rules for media members there to cover goings on at
the Pentagon. This was yesterday as President Trump and Secretary
(00:37):
Hegseth were asked about where this is?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Will you consider removing new restrictions on the press that
reported the Pentagon? And have you spoken to Secretary Hegseth
about this?
Speaker 4 (00:46):
I have, Well, he's finding I mean, I think I
can speak from and let him speak for himself, but
I think he finds the press to be very disruptive
in terms of world peace and maybe security for our nation.
Very dishonest. Not you, but the press is very dishonest.
Speaker 5 (01:03):
You have something to say, Well, very much appreciate the question,
because it was interesting to watch. We had a chance
to go alone on the historic trip of Middle East peace,
which our generation of veterans never dreamed would be possible.
So you would think that the Pentagon Press Corps, of
all press corps would be front and center across the
board on wanting to give credit to the president for
(01:25):
forging this kind of peace and understand instead what they
want to talk about as a policy about.
Speaker 6 (01:30):
Them, which simply says, maybe the policy should look like
the White House or other military installations where you have
to wear a badge that identifies that your press or
you can't just roam anywhere you want. It used to
be as president, the press could go anywhere pretty much
anywhere in the Pentagon, the most classified area in the world.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Or also that if they.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
Sign onto the credential link, they're not going to try
to get soldiers to break the law by giving classified information.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
So it's common sense stuff, mister President.
Speaker 6 (01:59):
We're trying to make sure national security is respected, and
we're proud of the policy.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
It bothers me to have soldiers and even you know,
high ranking generals walking around with you guys on this leeve,
because they can make a mistake, and a mistake can
be tragic. They can do it innotantly too. They can,
you know, and they're not press people. They don't really
deal with the press, so they're not I'm really necessarily
good at it, although I think it's mostly instinctual one
(02:26):
way or the other area the good at things or
you're not. But I could see you being bothered by that.
And so you have them in an area and you
treat them fairly, but they're not allowed to go into
looks like somebody's office and sit with them for ten hours.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I can so that was yesterday. The deadline has come
and gone for media outlets to assign a pledge to
abide by the new updated rules as put in place
by Secretary Hegstath. We have on the WBT hotline right now,
former Chief of Army Public Affairs, a Major General John Meyer,
is with us. Good morning sir, Good morning Boe. How
(03:04):
you doing doing well? And got Beth Troutman here with me,
and we thought that we would get somebody on here
who might have a better perspective to make sense of
all this than we do. This is an interesting story
to watch from afar. But I know from your standpoint
and your background, you probably have a different perspective on this.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I do have a different perspective on it. And I
heard what you just played, and how do not support
that supposition? Basically, Secretary Headsef said, reporters cannot obtain or
solicit any information the Department offents does not explicitly authorize.
That's just not a smart policy. It's going to cause
(03:47):
all kinds of problems. It runs counter to the Constitution's
guarantee of freedom of the press. It undercuts the First
Amendment protections. It stifles the flow of information. It restricts
your liability to keep the nation in the world informed
of important national security matters. Additionally, it lacks transparency and accountability.
(04:10):
Taxpayers fund the military, they have a right to know.
The more informed people are, the better they can make
an opinion or form a decision. It has the feel
to me of a cover up. It shields a department
offense from scrutiny, and most importantly, it eliminates the relationship
(04:30):
building with the media. When I was a Chief of
Army Public Affairs, one of the success stories was you
need to build a relationship with the media where there's
trust on both sides. And if you build that relationship
and there's trust and you work with each other, usually
get a balanced story. And that's what you can expect
(04:54):
from a journalist. You want to balance story so in
my opinion, I think I think this is going to
cause more problems than not, and it's unnecessary and it's
not accurate the way the media is being portrayed in
the Pentagon. They do not just roam the halls of
the Pentagon needlessly, in my judgment.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well that was that was one of the questions because
you worked as the chief of Public Affairs for the
United States Army when you were working with the press,
what was the access, you know, how was the how
did the process work, and how is the story that's
now being told about, you know, press access, How does
it differ from what you experienced.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
The media in the Pentagon is being portrayed as running
rapid with no restrictions. That's just not true. They have
to be approved to receive a badge to get into
the Pentagon and work in the Pentagon. They cannot have
access to any classified information, and there are certain rules
and regulations they have to follow, and those rules and
(06:00):
regulation have been in place for decades across multiple administrations
and both parties. The media just doesn't walk in the
hall and walk into your door and after nine to
eleven doors are not open. All the doors are shut,
all the doors are locked and you have to press
a button to get in. So what bothers me is
(06:24):
the media is being portrayed in an erroneous manner in
my judgment.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
We're talking to former Chief of Army Public Affairs, Major
General John Meyer here on WBT, talking about the Pete
Hegseth situation with the new rules for or I guess,
updated rules for media members covering goings on at the Pentagon. Now,
ABC News, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox, where Hegseth of
(06:51):
course used to work, issued a joint statement yesterday afternoon
condemning the new rules and refusing to sign the paperwork.
They said, quote, today we joined virtually every other news
organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon's new requirements,
which would restrict journalist's ability to keep the nation and
the world informed of important national security issues unquote. So
(07:13):
General Meyer, if I mean it appears that only one
outlet it's a OAN, has agreed to this. All the
rest of them, including Fox, have said no. So what
do you think happens now? If this goes forward as
it is, I mean, I assume they're going to have
some sort of negotiation. But if they're all locked out,
and they remain locked out, then what sort of scenario
(07:35):
do you think that presents?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Not a good scenario because the media is still going
to cover the Pentagon, so they're now going to have
to get their information from sources The Secretary of Defense
may not prefer. This is in my judgment, this is
going to cause more leaks to occur. And as a
(07:59):
senior leader in the department, you don't like leaps. But
the whole thing is this, you, as the Secretary of Defense,
want to get out the most favorable story about your
organization as you can. So if you don't tell your
side of the story, if you don't give journalists the
opportunity to research and talk to people, they don't have
(08:22):
an obligation to print your side of the story. So
this is just going to make it more difficult. He's
going to get more frustrated. And what they should be
doing is they should be doing developing a relationship with
the military with the media where they can have access
and you can have restrictions on the kind of access.
(08:43):
And I don't support the supposition that generals are walking
around with journalists hanging all over them and they don't
know what they're doing. When I was Chief of Ripublic Affairs,
I got the Army leadership to agree to put every
new general through a three hour media training course where
we had set them down and had different kind of
(09:06):
interviews and talk to them about how to develop a
relationship with the media and train them how to get
the story out, how to handle an adversarial story. So,
in my judgment, his policy is going to cause more
problems than they have before.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Were you surprised that this was a policy that Pete
Hagsath himself came up with, given that he used to
be a member of the media.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Not really, because in late January his office removed four
news outlets from their Pentagon workspace and they replaced them
with outlets more favorable with more favorable coverage to the
Trump administration. In May, secretary has said restricted journalists from
most hallways of the Pentagon without an escort. He hasn't
(09:54):
given a Pentagon press briefing in four months, and his
secretary his press work has not conducted a briefing in
two months. On the other hand, his boss, President Trump,
does a media event almost every day on any subject.
So you have two extremes there. I think the president
(10:17):
does too many interviews and his message order gets lost
because it's so frequent, and the secretary gives way too few.
There's a balance in between there that has worked in
the past very effectively in my judgment.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Well, we appreciate your judgment and your perspective and exactly
why we wanted to talk to you. And we like
talking to people who've been in these rooms, in these
areas that get talked about that many of us don't
have access to doing what we do. Beth and myself
so former Chief of Army Public Affairs and Major General
John Meyer. It's an honor to have you on and
thank you for your service.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Sir. Thank you all very much, and you all have
a good day.
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