Stars and Stripes Top Editor Steps Down Amid Pentagon Rift

Max D Lederer Jr, the veteran top editor of the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes, announced his retirement in a memo to staff on August 20 amid a dispute with the U.S. Department of Defense over the paper's direction.

In the memo, Lederer said his leadership philosophy and his understanding of the paper's values and mission differed fundamentally from the direction set by Defense Department leadership for the organization. He confirmed his resignation in an interview with the paper he leads.

Lederer's departure comes shortly after Stars and Stripes, along with several other military newspapers, published investigative reports on the mental health crisis among sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier deployed in the Gulf. The paper has also frequently clashed with the Trump administration since his second term began in January.

Founded in 1861, Stars and Stripes is a daily newspaper covering U.S. service members and their families, with about 1.4 million daily readers, primarily through its online platform. Structurally, the paper operates under the Defense Media Activity (DMA), which is part of the Pentagon. About two-thirds of the paper's budget comes from the Pentagon, with the rest from circulation and advertising, but the newsroom has always asserted editorial independence.

The differing views between the two sides became increasingly apparent after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon accused Stars and Stripes of publishing “woke” content that undermines troop morale. In January, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced a restructuring of the paper to “modernize operations and redirect content away from distractions,” without specifying which articles were considered “woke.” Earlier, The Washington Post reported that job applicants at Stars and Stripes were asked about their willingness to support Trump administration policies.

Tensions escalated further earlier this month when Stars and Stripes, alongside Military Times and Navy Times, reported on the exhaustion of more than 5,000 sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln. The ship departed its home port of San Diego on November 21, 2025, for a deployment lasting up to nine months in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East, participating in maritime protection and blockade operations in the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. The ship made only one port call, lasting two days, in December 2025.

Relatives of sailors reported shortages of food, broken toilets, and showers, raising concerns about hygiene and health. A sailor's wife told Navy Times that her husband had considered jumping off the ship during the prolonged deployment, describing his deteriorating working conditions and growing psychological pressure, saying he was in a state of “severe exhaustion.”

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Secretary Hegseth on August 20, noting that the aircraft carrier had been “operating continuously at sea for nearly seven months,” breaking the previous record for a U.S. carrier deployment without a port call. He emphasized that these reports require immediate attention and questioned whether the Navy can sustain the current operational tempo as the administration continually commits forces to conflicts and increasingly relies on aircraft carriers.

Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, visited the USS Abraham Lincoln last week and wrote on social media that among the 11 active carriers, the Lincoln currently has one of the lowest rates of mental health-related cases.

Tensions between Stars and Stripes and the Pentagon are not new. In 2009, the paper exposed that the military had signed a $1.5 million contract with the public relations firm The Rendon Group to analyze articles by journalists embedded with troops and classify them as “positive,” “neutral,” or “negative” regarding military objectives. The contract was canceled shortly thereafter.

In 2020, during Trump's first term, the Pentagon sought to cut funding for Stars and Stripes, but Trump pledged on social media not to reduce funding, leading to the reversal of the closure order. In April, the Pentagon fired Jacqueline Smith, the paper's independent readers' representative, after she publicly warned that defense officials were “trying to control” the newsroom.

Lederer, who has served as top editor of Stars and Stripes since 2007, officially retires on September 30.