Today in Politics, Bulletin 229. 10/14/25

… Pete Hegseth received a stunning rebuke today from every media company that covers the Pentagon, including Fox and Newsmax, who all refused to sign the agreement to abide by his lengthy set of paranoid rules restricting their coverage of military issues. The deadline to sign was 6 PM today. Only far-right fringe outlet OAN signed.

… CNN, Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS issued a joint statement: “We join virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements, which would restrict journalists’ ability to keep the nation and the world informed of important national security issues. The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the US military as each of our orgs has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”

… OAN’s primetime host, former Rep. Matt Gaetz: “Frankly I’m shocked these weren’t already the rules. It’s the PENTAGON! OAN is happy to follow these reasonable conditions, grounded in care for our national security.

… The Pentagon Press Assn: “This Wednesday, most Pentagon Press Assn members seem likely to hand over their badges rather than acknowledge a policy that gags Pentagon employees and threatens retaliation against reporters who seek out information that has not been pre-approved for release.”

… Hegseth responded with this social media post: “Pentagon access is a privilege, not a right. So, here is Dept of War press credentialing FOR DUMMIES: Press no longer roams free. Press must wear visible badge. Credentialed press no longer permitted to solicit criminal acts. DONE. Pentagon now has same rules as every US military installation.”

… Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mark Hertling: “For the record, there are 17 pages worth of requirements, and the only people that buy this shortened version from Hegseth are truly dummies.”

… Paul McLeary, who covers the Pentagon for Politico: “The secretary and his staff know this, but: Journalists have never been able to roam free in the Pentagon. Journalists have always worn visible badges. Journalists ask what the department is doing with taxpayers’ money in their name, and do not solicit criminal acts.”

… Olivier Knox, who covers the Pentagon for US News & World Report: “Press never roamed free. Always had visible badges. In a republic, the press cannot limit itself to what govt approves for release.”

… Tom Bowman, who covers the Pentagon for NPR: “It’s important everyone understands that this document is not about press’ ability to ‘roam the halls.’ It equates asking for info—the press’ literal job—with criminal activity. The new rules even stipulate that sharing our contact info on social media and asking people to reach out could make journalists a ‘security risk’ and be grounds for revoking badges. That is the real reason why no one — save one far-right outlet— is signing.”

… Military Reporters & Editors Assn: “Secretary Hegseth has not briefed Pentagon reporters in nearly 4 months, and Press Sec Kingsley Wilson has not conducted a briefing in 2 months. DOD has avoided questions from the press, all while US troops are operating around the globe, the Pentagon has conducted legally questionable military strikes that have killed people in international waters and the admin has deployed troops to American cities.”

… Andrew deGrandpre, who covers the Pentagon for WaPo: “This is significant. MRE encompasses many of the independent newsrooms with a long, noble history of serving rank-and-file troops, vets and their families. Think deployment info, news about pay and benefits. It shows how Hegseth’s gambit actually undermines the military community too.”

… Meanwhile, Trump announced today that he blew up another boat in the Caribbean, killing 6 more people.

… House Republican leadership held their daily shutdown press conference today, where they once again attacked No Kings rallies planned for this Sat: Tom Emmer: “We call it the ‘Hate America’ rally because you’ll see the hate for America all over this thing when they show up. The rumor is that they can’t end this shutdown because this small but very violent group is the only one that’s happy about this.”

… At the end of this Bulletin I posted a message from No Kings that was released today with some guidance and tips for Saturday’s protests.

… The Fox reporter asked Mike Johnson about keeping the House out of session to block a vote on the Epstein files: Q - “ You said last week that you would swear in Grijalva whenever she wants. She has written a letter to your office. You have not sworn her in. Doesn’t your resistance add fuel to the fire that this is about Epstein? Johnson: No. This is another partisan manufactured thing.”

… “Everyone in Congress is for maximum transparency for the Epstein files. But there may be as many as a thousand victims. Many of whom were underage. And we have to make sure when the files are released their names are redacted so they don’t suffer further harm. That is underway.”

… It doesn’t take that long to redact the victim’s names. Johnson is lying again. Trump said he doesn’t want it released. Pam Bondi said they aren’t releasing anything else. We are supposed to believe that this is the first time Johnson is going to go against what Trump wants? No way. He’s following orders from Trump to obstruct this hoping that people would forget and move on. Their plan isn’t working.

… Arizona AG Kris Mayes says Speaker Johnson has “delayed and stonewalled” Grijalva’s swearing in for no legal reason: “The voters need an elected representative. Today my office is sending a letter to Speaker Johnson demanding that he do so. We are keeping every option open to us, including litigation, to hold him accountable.”

… Q: “We’ve seen images out of Chicago of federal agents shooting faith leaders with pepper balls and arresting journalists. Where’s the limit for you on what’s acceptable conduct by federal agents? Johnson: I’ve not seen them cross the line yet.”

… Johnson: “I’m proud to tell you that together with my friend Speaker Ohana of the Israeli Knesset, we’re gonna embark on a project together to rally speakers and presidents of parliaments around the world so that we will jointly nominate President Trump for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize. No one has ever deserved that prize more.”

… But, as with all things Trump, once you get past the choreographed hype of his big announcements made with much bombast and fanfare and take a look at the details and how things play out - they never resemble his claims. After declaring everlasting peace in the Middle East yesterday, things are already getting dicey already on Day 2.

… ABC: “The Israel Defense Forces said its troops opened fire on Palestinians in Gaza City, killing 5, after they allegedly violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement. A Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson denied the IDF’s claim.”

… Joe Truzman, editor of Long War Journal: “Israeli media outlets report that Israel has decided to keep the Rafah crossing closed to Gazans and to scale back humanitarian aid deliveries until Hamas returns the bodies of Israeli captives. Hamas has returned only 4 of the deceased hostages out of 28.”

… Time: “Plenty of questions remain about what lies ahead for peace in the region, particularly the future of Gaza. In the agreement, there is no mention of plans towards a Palestinian State that is recognized by the US, nor clear plans on Gaza’s future governance. This has somewhat been laid out in Trump’s initial 20-point peace plan. During Gaza’s redevelopment ‘the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,’ Trump’s plan states.”

… “But the President made no mention of a Palestinian state during his remarks at the signing ceremony, and has previously criticized recent moves from western countries to recognize Palestine. On Monday, asked by reporters about a two-state solution, Trump would only say: ‘We’ll have to see. I’m not talking about a single-state or double-state or two-state. A lot of people like the one-state solution, some people like the two-state solution. We’ll have to see.’”

… “Israeli PM Netanyahu has long ruled out a separate Palestinian state, despite growing international pressure. The initial plan also outlined the proposal for a temporary transitional government body to oversee Gaza’s day-to-day public services. Led by both Palestinian and international experts, the body is set to include former British PM Tony Blair, something which Hamas has rejected.”

… “And despite Monday’s prisoner and hostage exchange offering progress on the peace process, cracks in this aspect of the agreement have already appeared. Only 4 bodies of the remaining dead hostages have so far been returned to Israel, after all 28 were expected to be handed over on Monday. The families of the hostages were ‘shocked and dismayed’ by the development, calling it ‘a blatant breach of the agreement by Hamas,’ and called on the Israeli govt to ensure that Hamas ‘pays a price for this violation.’”

… “The IDF also said Tues that there had been ‘a clear violation of the agreement’ when several people approached Israeli military positions beyond the current line of withdrawal in Gaza. Troops then opened fire ‘to remove the threat’, said the IDF. Local health authorities in Gaza said that 6 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire across two separate incidents on Tues, despite the cease-fire.”

… “On the Palestinian side, there were claims by families that many of the prisoners released had suffered mistreatment. There are also growing fears of civil war breaking out in Gaza. Hamas has claimed it is seeking to ‘restore security’, amid claims it had executed members of rival groups.”

… Steve Bannon: “There’s so much happy talk coming out of the Israel First crowd that just doesn’t face reality. The reality is you got yourself a two-state solution with BIG TIME MUSCLE backing the Palestinians now.”

… The Times (UK): “Israelis and Palestinians may have danced in the streets when news broke overnight that a deal had been reached between Hamas and Israel over the first phase of a peace deal for Gaza. But the terms of the deal were in place more than a year ago, according to an independent Israeli negotiator, and could have been agreed months ago.”

… “Gershon Baskin, the architect of the negotiations that freed the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011, revealed that Hamas had agreed the exact same terms of the deal in Sept 2024, in the last months of the Biden admin: “This deal could have been done a long time ago. Hamas agreed to all of the same terms in what became known as the ‘Three Weeks Deal’ that I had received in writing. But at that point the response of the Israeli negotiators was that ‘the prime minister did not agree to end the war’.”

… I reposted a clip on social media from PBS that aired on August 20, 2024: “The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the PM of Israel urging him not to cut a deal right now because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign.”

… Netanyahu flew to Mar-a-Lago for a private meeting with Trump three weeks before he rejected this peace proposal, despite the fact that he was not president at the time. This is the photo they released after the meeting.

… Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) posted a clip from Trump’s press event in Israel: “Trump asked dual citizen Miriam Adelson, a billionaire running nasty ads against me in Kentucky, ‘what do you love more, the US or Israel?’ She refused to answer him. He says that might mean she loves Israel more. This isn’t AI, it’s real video.”

… Adelson was the second largest donor to Trump’s campaign after Elon Musk, putting over $100 million into his various PACs.

… The list of airports refusing to play Kristi Noem’s outrageous partisan political PSA video blaming Democrats for airport delays continues to grow. Portland Intl Airport, Seattle-Tacoma Intl, Niagara Falls Intl, Buffalo Niagara Intl, Westchester County Airport, Phoenix Intl, Las Vegas Intl, Charlotte Intl, Cleveland Intl, LAX, JFK and LaGuardia in NY, and Newark Intl all confirmed they will not play the video.

… Trump was complaining on Truth Social about his photo on the Time cover: “The picture may be the Worst of All Time. They ‘disappeared’ my hair, and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown, but an extremely small one. Really weird! I never liked taking pictures from underneath angles, but this is a super bad picture, and deserves to be called out. What are they doing, and why?”

… I think he is most upset about his neck, which he always weirdly folds into his collar. The cover photo went viral on social media last night with everyone mocking his neck, which is why he posted that this morning.

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… Eric Trump launched his new book tour, which is about how his family was supposedly persecuted and victimized over the last 4 years. He made this bizarre statement on one podcast: “We’re saving Christianity. We’ve saving God. We’ve saving the family unit. We’re saving this nation. We have a return to people going to church.”

… He was also asked about his dad’s recent statements that he isn’t likely to get into heaven based on his past deeds. Eric: “Make no mistake - he is heaven-bound. I’ve seen the hand of God on him for a very long time. I think there is a lot less people