As the U.S.- and Israel-led war continues to expand, its justifications have grown thinner and its timeline more elusive. At the same time, the Trump administration appears increasingly eager to rein in unfavorable coverage. During a Pentagon press briefing on March 13, 2026, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urged journalists to adopt more favorable framing of the conflict, telling reporters, “Here’s a real headline for you, for an actual patriotic press… ‘Iran shrinking, going underground.’” Hegseth’s quip implies that coverage of Iran which questions the administration’s actions or portrays them in an unflattering light is somehow unpatriotic.