Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth launched a fierce critique of CNN at a Pentagon press briefing on Friday, March 13, insisting that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better” as he condemned the cable network’s reporting on the ongoing Iran conflict.
Hegseth’s public rebuke targeted a CNN story published Thursday, March 12, which said the Trump administration had underestimated Iran’s likelihood of closing the Strait of Hormuz while planning Operation Epic Fury. The former Fox News host dismissed the piece as “patently ridiculous” and “fundamentally unserious.”
“For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage. CNN doesn’t think we thought of that,” Hegseth said during the briefing, drawing audible reactions from some reporters in the room.
The remark alluded to Paramount CEO David Ellison’s pending $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company. The potential takeover has fueled speculation about editorial shifts at the network, especially after disruptions at CBS News since Ellison assumed control of Paramount.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt amplified Hegseth’s attack, calling the CNN piece “garbage” and “100% fake news” on X, and asserting that the Pentagon had long planned for Iran to close the strategic waterway.
The contested CNN story cited several anonymous sources asserting that the Pentagon and National Security Council had seriously underestimated Iran’s readiness to block the Strait of Hormuz, a route for roughly 20% of global oil shipments. Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has pledged to sustain the blockade after U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed his father and injured him.
CNN chairman and CEO Mark Thompson defended the network’s reporting in a statement on Friday, March 13, saying the outlet’s “only interest is in telling the truth” and that “no amount of political threats or insults” would alter that commitment.
Former CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr pushed back at Hegseth on X, writing: “CNN has had personnel in combat zones for decades. CNN has had killed and wounded and all with lives changed forever. You have a legal and moral obligation to defend the free press, even the ones you don’t personally like.”
CNN added a clarification to the article on Friday, noting that Trump administration officials had briefed lawmakers on long-standing military plans to handle disruptions to the Strait, although multiple sources said the briefing suggested no immediate fixes were available.
The dispute arises as Ellison has sought to reassure CNN employees about editorial independence after the acquisition. “Editorial independence will absolutely be maintained. It’s maintained at CBS. It’ll be maintained at CNN,” the Paramount CEO told CNBC last week.
Still, Ellison’s management of CBS News has raised worries among CNN staff. He appointed Bari Weiss, founder of The Free Press and a former New York Times opinion writer without TV newsroom experience, to run CBS News last fall. Weiss faced heavy criticism after pulling a “60 Minutes” piece about the El Salvador prison CECOT just two hours before airtime in December, a move correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi called “political.”
Tensions climbed further this week when CBS hired Jeremy Adler, formerly Rep. Liz Cheney’s communications director, provoking anger among White House officials. “What the **** is Bari Weiss thinking?” one administration insider told Axios.
Trump supporters have welcomed possible changes at CNN. Far-right activist Laura Loomer told The Bulwark she would “happily become a CNN contributor if CNN is controlled by new leadership” after the Paramount deal.
President Trump himself criticized war coverage on Truth Social, suggesting The New York Times would lead readers to “incorrectly think that we are not winning” against Iran’s regime. Trump has long praised Larry Ellison, David’s billionaire father and Oracle founder, referring to both as “friends of mine” and “big supporters.”
The Pentagon has tightened media access in recent months. Reporters lost press badges and office space after refusing to accept new reporting rules, and the Pentagon blocked press photographers from Iran briefings over allegedly “unflattering” images, according to The Washington Post. Still photographers remained barred at Friday’s briefing.
The Atlantic’s national security reporter Nancy Youssef also disclosed she was individually denied entry to the March 13 briefing — the sole outlet blocked — a day after publishing a story that questioned the U.S. endgame in Iran.
Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin, once Hegseth’s colleague, criticized the restrictions on Wednesday, March 11 while accepting an RTDNA First Amendment Award in Washington. “I’m concerned that during this time of war, news organizations, which have reported uninterrupted from inside the Pentagon since 1947, are no longer given that access,” Griffin said.
The White House intensified its campaign against CNN on Friday by publishing a piece titled “CNN Is Lying to Undermine Operation Epic Fury’s Crushing Success.” The conflict entered its third week with no clear resolution, and Israel claimed on March 17 that it had assassinated Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in the latest high-profile targeted killing since the operation began.
