Stars and Stripes Publisher Resigns Over Pentagon Clash
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- Max D Lederer Jr. announced his retirement in a Tuesday memo to staff, writing that his philosophy and understanding of Stars and Stripes' mission "differ in fundamental ways" from the direction Department of Defense leadership wants.
- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accused Stars and Stripes of promoting "woke distractions" and slammed the outlet for reporting on poor conditions and declining morale aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is participating in the war on Iran.
- The Pentagon also fired ombudsman Jacqueline Smith, whose role was to shield the paper from political interference — prompting Smith to write that "no one should be surprised that they're kicking out the one person charged by Congress with protecting Stars and Stripes' editorial independence."
- In January, the Defense Department announced it would bring Stars and Stripes into "greater alignment with the government's priorities"; spokesperson Sean Parnell framed the move as "returning Stars and Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters."
- Hegseth has separately restricted Pentagon press access broadly — in June reporters were banned from the press office after it was abruptly designated a classified area, and a judge paused a policy requiring escorts to move through the building.
- The USS Abraham Lincoln has broken the US Navy record for longest deployment without a port stop after leaving in November, originally bound for Venezuela before being redirected near Iran; Stars and Stripes was one of two outlets to report on suicide attempts by crew.
- Founded in 1861, Stars and Stripes receives significant government funding but has historically maintained editorial independence; during Trump's first term (2017–2021), the Pentagon sought to eliminate funding before Trump pledged not to cut it.
Why it matters: With its publisher gone, its congressionally mandated ombudsman fired, and Pentagon press access curtailed — all during a deeply unpopular war on Iran — the 164-year-old institution charged with candidly reporting on the US military's own service members is being systematically stripped of independence at the moment sailors aboard the record-deploying USS Abraham Lincoln are reportedly attempting suicide.
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