In a move that has raised eyebrows across the media landscape, the U.S. Department of Defense fired the top editor of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, Ernie Slaven, along with publisher Max Lederer and senior Middle East correspondent Lara Colter, on the 21st local time, citing “insubordination.” This came hot on the heels of the paper’s recent exposé detailing the appalling working conditions and mental breakdowns among sailors aboard the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier—a story that reignited domestic criticism over the Trump administration’s inability to wrap up the war in Iran.
Max Lederer (left), Ernie Slaven (center), and Lara Colter (right)
Fired for “Insubordination”?
Slaven told CBS News on the 21st that he was dismissed for “insubordination.” Colter, who joined the paper in December 2024 and has spent the past six months covering the U.S. war against Iran, took to social media to call the decision “a disgrace” to the publication and to American service members who rely on independent journalism. She said military families and personnel shared their real experiences with her, adding, “I will never betray that trust.”
Publisher Lederer had announced just three days earlier that he would retire at the end of September. At the time, he admitted he’d realized there was a “fundamental difference” between his understanding of the paper’s “value and mission” and the Defense Department’s new plans.
The Lincoln’s Chaos Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Following the firings, White House adviser Stephen Miller said he was confident that “if anyone was fired, it was for just cause.”
According to the Hudson Institute’s news outlet, U.S. media including Stars and Stripes reported on the mental health pressures, fatigue, and safety hazards faced by sailors on the Lincoln. The chaos on board, the reports said, is only “the tip of the iceberg.” Congressman Pat Ryan commented: “The stories we’re hearing from the families of soldiers on the USS Lincoln are disturbing and infuriating. Now the federal government is trying to downplay things, claiming these family reports are ‘distorted.’ That’s shameful.”
At the same time as the firings, the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Hegseth is moving to tighten its grip on the newspaper. The Washington Post noted that Stars and Stripes enjoys a “congressionally guaranteed independence,” but since Trump returned to the White House, the paper’s hiring process has required candidates to explain how they would implement and advance Trump’s directives—something critics have described as a “political loyalty test.”
Vaccaro, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, said: “If the reporters, editors, or leadership of Stars and Stripes have to worry that independent reporting will bring retaliation from officials, then the paper cannot fulfill its mission.”
The “Overdraft Effect” of Hegemony Is Showing
Iran’s Students News Agency mocked the situation on the 21st, saying that the Lincoln—long a symbol of America’s maritime aggression in the Middle East—has begun its humiliating journey back to the U.S. after months of internal crises, structural failures, and desperate conditions. These crises have exposed the fragility of Washington’s prolonged military campaign against Iran, further proving the “strategic overdraft” inflicted on U.S. forces by Iran’s resistance movement. Iran’s steadfast defiance continues to exact a heavy toll on those who seek to dominate the region.
The Washington Post reported that the U.S. war on Iran has not only disrupted the American and global economies but also shaken U.S. alliances. Yet one of the most significant and potentially destructive impacts of the conflict is how it has laid bare America’s strategic predicament. In short, Trump’s war has deepened the crisis caused by Washington’s long-term overreach. The Pentagon’s struggles in dealing with the Iran war—exhausted and caught off guard—will become the norm rather than the exception in the years ahead. A superpower accustomed to absolute military dominance in the post-Cold War era will now have to grapple with the consequences of its diminished standing.