Press Freedom and Pentagon Access

White House and Pentagon officials — including Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called the CNN story “100% FAKE NEWS,” and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who dismissed it as “patently ridiculous” — denounced a CNN report that the Trump team underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz after CNN clarified that top Trump officials had briefed lawmakers on long‑standing military plans but that “multiple sources” said there were no near‑term solutions. CNN CEO Mark Thompson stood by the reporting, Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton accused a leaker of lying, and the Pentagon has separately moved to bar photographers from some Hegseth briefings amid growing tensions with the press.