Trump's Pentagon says it will 'rotate' out some media from offices

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, in an unprecedented move, announced late on Friday it would remove four media organizations including the New York Times from their dedicated office spaces in the Pentagon, citing a desire to make room for others.

The memo on a "New Annual Media Rotation Program" said it would also remove National Public Radio, Comcast Corp-owned NBC News and Politico, which must vacate their spaces by Feb. 14. In their place, it would give dedicated office space to the New York Post, One America News Network, Breitbart News Network and HuffPost News.

Each year going forward, one outlet from print, online, television and radio will rotate out of the Pentagon "to allow a new outlet from the same medium that has not had the unique opportunity to report as a resident member of the Pentagon Press Corps," the memo said.

"We’re disappointed by the decision to deny us access to a broadcasting booth at the Pentagon that we’ve used for many decades," an NBC News spokesperson said by email. "Despite the significant obstacles this presents to our ability to gather and report news in the national public interest, we will continue to report with the same integrity and rigor NBC News always has."

The New York Times said it remained committed to covering the Pentagon "fully and fairly" despite the move.

"Steps designed to impede access are clearly not in the public interest," the Times said in a statement.

NPR called on the Defense Department to expand office space available so that all media outlets covering the Pentagon receive equal access.

"This decision interferes with the ability of millions of Americans to directly hear from Pentagon leadership," it said.

Politico's Senior Managing Editor Anita Kumar, in a note to staff, said the organization was troubled by the decision.

"Our sole aim is to protect our ability -- and the ability of serious competitors -- to do rigorous reporting and follow stories where they lead," Kumar wrote.

More than two dozen news organizations operate out of the Pentagon, including Reuters, reporting on the daily activities of the U.S. military.

"To be clear, the outlets that vacate the spaces loaned them by the Secretary (of Defense) will remain full members of the Pentagon Press Corps," said John Ullyot, acting assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.

"The only change will be giving up their physical work spaces in the building to allow new outlets to have their turn to become resident members of the Pentagon Press Corps."

The Pentagon Press Association, which represents journalists who cover the Defense Department, said it was "greatly troubled by this unprecedented move by DOD to single out highly professional media."

Reuters correspondent Phil Stewart is a member of the association's four-member board of directors.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk, Lincoln Feast, William Mallard, Alistair Bell and Diane Craft)