The Pentagon dismissed Stars and Stripes editor Erik Slavin, reporter Lara Korte and publisher Max Lederer after a public defence of the paper’s editorial independence. The move has intensified concerns that the Defence Department is trying to tighten control over military journalism.

The moves come at a time when the Trump administration, in its second term, has been progressively combative toward the media.

The longtime publisher of Stars and Stripes has announced his retirement, ending a decades-long career with the military newspaper as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Pentagon moves to exert edit

Longtime Stars and Stripes publisher Max D.