# 50,000 Troops, Zero Reporters. Why Trump and Hegseth are Keeping the Press Away From Iran.

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/50-000-troops-zero-reporters-why-trump-and-hegseth-are-keeping-the-press-away-from-iran
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/50-000-troops-zero-reporters-why-trump-and-hegseth-are-keeping-the-press-away-from-iran.md
Podcast: [Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff](https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737)
Published: 2026-05-31T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/?post_type=gp_podcast_episode&p=559
Audio file: https://pdrl.fm/c39fb6/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626/episodes/e91d1a4a-307d-4ac2-8254-67ccbedbde9e/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626&awEpisodeId=e91d1a4a-307d-4ac2-8254-67ccbedbde9e&feed=8GTvjwcf
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Duration seconds: 445

## Resource

Fifty thousand troops. Zero reporters on a ship. Zero reporters on a base. That's the reality of the Iran deployment under Trump and acting secretary of culture war Pete Hegseth — and it's the kind of information vacuum that's never existed in modern American conflict. Paul is joined by ABC News chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, one of the most respected and trusted voices in military journalism, for a no-BS briefing on what happens when the Pentagon shuts the press out of a shooting war.

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## Transcript

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