Trump Action Archive

Supporting reports

• Pentagon fired Stars and Stripes ombudsman Jacqueline Smith — The Pentagon terminated Jacqueline Smith, the ombudsman for Stars and Stripes, the independent military newspaper. Smith had publicly criticized Defense Secretary Hegseth's restrictions on press freedom within the military. Congress had established the ombudsman position specifically to protect the newspaper's editorial independence from Pentagon control. Smith's farewell column warned that Pentagon leadership has placed "more and more restrictions on the mainstream media" and urged Americans to prevent Stars and Stripes from being "controlled by Pentagon brass."
• Stars and Stripes editor fired for warning about Pentagon editorial control — Tim Richardson with PEN America reported that Jacqueline Smith, an editor at Stars and Stripes (the official Department of Defense newspaper), has been fired after spending months warning readers, the public, and Congress about Pentagon efforts to shift editorial decision-making away from the newsroom and into the hands of political appointees. Smith was terminated for raising these concerns publicly.