MAGA Reporter Claims Firing After Criticizing Pentagon Press Restrictions Under Pete Hegseth

By Brian Stelter, CNN

Gabrielle Cuccia, a pro-Trump Pentagon correspondent for One America News (OAN), says she was terminated after publicly questioning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tightening of press access at the Pentagon.

A Conservative Voice Silenced

Cuccia, who described herself as a "MAGA girl," had recently returned to OAN as their chief Pentagon correspondent after working as a White House reporter during the Trump administration. Her dismissal followed a critical Substack post on Tuesday, where she called new Pentagon press restrictions a "troubling shift" and challenged Hegseth’s lack of press engagements since taking office.

"This isn’t about attacking Hegseth," she wrote. "It’s about keeping MAGA alive."

By Thursday, she was asked to surrender her Pentagon press credentials, and by Friday, she confirmed to CNN that she had been fired. OAN President Charles Herring did not respond to requests for comment, including whether Pentagon officials had complained about her article.

From Trump Loyalist to Pentagon Critic

Cuccia’s conservative credentials were never in doubt—she previously made headlines on Newsmax for echoing Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims and frequently flaunted her MAGA allegiance on social media. Earlier this year, OAN was granted NBC’s former Pentagon workspace as part of a broader shift toward pro-Trump media, and Cuccia rebranded it as the "Liberty Lounge."

But her stance shifted as she observed the Pentagon’s increasingly restrictive media policies. In her Substack piece (a 3,000-word critique), she noted that the Pentagon press briefing room had been locked—a first in its history—and that the chief spokesperson had held only one press conference since January.

"The Commander-in-Chief takes tough questions… even dumb ones. Why won’t the Defense Secretary?" she wrote.

Pentagon’s Escalating Press Crackdown

The immediate catalyst appeared to be a May 23 Pentagon memo requiring journalists to have escorts in previously accessible areas—a move Cuccia called unprecedented, even post-9/11. The memo also hinted at further accreditation scrutiny and military secrecy protections.

"Without a free press, we must assume the government’s word is truth," she warned, calling such blind trust "the antithesis of what we stand for."

Her firing raises questions about press freedom under the current administration—even within pro-Trump media circles.