SLIDESHOW: 10 Pictures of Pete Hegseth From the ‘Unflattering’ Batch the Pentagon Reportedly Doesn’t Want You to See

These may be the last press photos of U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that we see for a while.

On March 2, roughly two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran, Secretary of Defense/War Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a press briefing to discuss the hostilities. The event reportedly led to a further escalation in the ongoing battle between the Pentagon and its press corps due to allegedly “unflattering” photos of Hegseth.

According to a report from The Washington Post that was published on Wednesday, following the event, press photographers were barred from subsequent briefings on the war. The Post cited “two people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation” who said the ban came down because Hegseth’s staff deemed photos from the March 2 event to be “unflattering.”

Prior to the March 2 briefing, Hegseth, a firebrand former Fox News anchor, had not appeared behind the Pentagon podium since last June. Under Hegseth’s leadership, the Pentagon enacted new restrictions for reporters that limit access on unauthorized information. The new rules led many of the media organizations who have traditionally covered the armed forces to turn in their access badges and abandon workspaces in the building. In their absence, the Pentagon has credentialed a new wave of largely partisan outlets.

At the White House, the press corps has similarly faced new restrictions during President Donald Trump’s second term as the administration has sought to bring in more right-wing outlets. These changes have led to widespread alarm and criticism from media organizations including the Pentagon Press Association, which represents over 100 outlets.

The Pentagon policy also provoked a legal challenge from the New York Times and, last week, a federal judge questioned the constitutionality of the measure in what was widely seen as an indication he could block the restrictions.

The Post report did not specify which photos from last week were allegedly deemed “unflattering” by Hegseth’s team. However, the paper noted the Associated Press, Reuters and Getty Images were among the outlets that covered the March 2 event.

A spokesperson provided TPM with a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson indicating Defense Department staff and credentialed outlets would release images from future events and attributing the move to “space” related concerns. The statement also noted news outlets who have concerns about this could seek credentials, which would mean agreeing to the new restrictions that limit their access.

“In order to use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively, we are allowing one representative per news outlet if uncredentialed, excluding pool. Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use. If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential,” Wilson said.

Wilson and the Pentagon did not directly respond to questions about whether the ban was related to “unflattering” photos or which specific pictures may have been an issue.

While we don’t know for sure what photos may be in question here, we do have access to many of the pictures Getty took at the March 2. In the interest of providing further context to this latest spat over Pentagon press access, here are 10 of the Getty pictures from that day.