President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum listen as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks before Trump signed executive orders regarding nuclear energy in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington.

Bedeviled by leaks to the media during his short tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort -- areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the world's most powerful military.

Newly restricted areas include his office and those of his top aides and all of the different locations across the mammoth building where the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force maintain press offices.