Pentagon Fires Stars and Stripes Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, and Reporter for “Insubordination”

The Pentagon moved Friday to fire three senior employees at the taxpayer-supported military newspaper Stars and Stripes, accusing them of “insubordination” amid an escalating battle over the publication’s direction.

Publisher Max Lederer, Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East reporter Lara Korte were each served with separation notices and given five days to appeal, according to CBS News⁠.

The stunning shake-up comes as the Trump administration works to overhaul the military publication, drag it into the 21st century, and eliminate the “woke distractions” that have infected institutions across the federal government.

Slavin and Korte claimed they were targeted over interviews they gave to CBS News without authorization for a segment that aired in July.

Slavin told CBS that the Pentagon accused him of insubordination after he publicly declared that any effort to control the newspaper’s reporting would cross a “red line.”

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line,” Slavin said.

“The Pentagon’s public affairs office has charged me with insubordination. I stand by the principle that Stars and Stripes must remain editorially independent, as required by law and by the department’s own policies.”

During the CBS interview, Slavin described the hypothetical scenario that he said would be unacceptable.

“‘Don’t run a perfectly accurate story, run this instead. Here it is, written by the Pentagon.’ That would be a red line,” he said.

Korte, who covers the Middle East, similarly insisted that she does not work for the Pentagon—even though the outlet operates within the Department of Defense and receives millions of dollars from American taxpayers.

“I’m working for Stars and Stripes. Not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker,” Korte said during the CBS segment. “I’m here to cover the military community.”

Korte later called the dismissals “a shame for the institution and service members.”

Lederer, who had led the publication for 19 years, announced earlier in the week that he planned to retire on September 30 because of what he described as “fundamental” disagreements with the Trump administration’s vision for the outlet.

The Pentagon apparently decided not to wait.

Lederer was reportedly asked to fire Slavin and Korte over their unauthorized CBS appearance but refused, according to people familiar with the dispute cited by The Washington Post⁠. He was subsequently issued his own separation notice.

White House adviser Stephen Miller defended the administration when asked about the controversy Friday.

“If anybody was fired, it was for just cause,” Miller said.

The firings follow months of tension between Pentagon officials and the newspaper’s entrenched leadership.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell previously announced plans to bring Stars and Stripes “into the 21st century” and refocus the outlet away from “woke distractions that syphon morale.”

Following Friday’s purge, Navy Capt. William Urban, recently appointed military deputy to the publisher, released an open letter calling for modernization while pledging that the paper would continue producing independent reporting.

Urban said the outlet must improve its digital operation, increase advertising revenue, and “embrace a culture of change.”

In other words, the taxpayer-funded publication is finally being told that the status quo is no longer acceptable.

The corporate media will predictably portray the personnel shake-up as another attack on journalism. But the Pentagon maintains that the three employees were disciplined for insubordination, not for publishing a particular story.

And now they will have five days to make their case.