Pentagon Fires Top Leadership At ‘Stars And Stripes’

The Pentagon has fired the top leadership at the long-running military newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

Under Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth’s leadership, the publication has come under threat as top Pentagon leaders have derided the newspaper as “woke.”

Prior to the second Trump administration, the news outlet has long been given editorial independence from the government.

The Pentagon fired the publisher and the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper funded by the Department of Defense that has long enjoyed editorial independence from the government. https://t.co/5RrpqPmRZu

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 21, 2026

From the Washington Post:

The Defense Department sent a separation notice to publisher Max Lederer, who announced his retirement this week, telling staff in a parting note he had disagreed with decisions from Pentagon top brass.

During the second Trump administration, under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the publication’s independence has come under threat as top Pentagon leaders have derided the newspaper as “woke.”

Erik Slavin, the editor in chief, said he and reporter Lara Korte also received separation notices Friday.

Slavin said he and Korte were fired for participating in a CBS News interview, during which he said any hypothetical censorship of the military newspaper would cross a red line.

Slavin joined Stars and Stripes in 2005 as a reporter, and was named the paper’s top editor in September 2025.

Launched during the Civil War, Stars and Stripes has continuously reported on and for the U.S. military community since World War II.

The Pentagon on Friday moved to fire the editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes as well as its retiring publisher and a civilian reporter who covers the Middle East for the news organization.

Read more:https://t.co/BGKmsBDIs0 pic.twitter.com/EHJMvNfRL0

— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) August 21, 2026

Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes – not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.

— Lara Korte (@lara_korte) August 21, 2026

Breaking News: The U.S. military fired the publisher and the top editor of Stars and Stripes, which had reported on problems aboard the U.S.S. Lincoln. https://t.co/mAmxjV1G4u

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 21, 2026