US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth used a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday to revive familiar attacks on the press, suggesting news coverage of the Iran war is shaped to damage Donald Trump politically.

Hegseth claimed media outlets give prominent attention to US service member casualties in order to “make the president look bad” — a highly charged assertion that brought partisan framing into a wartime press conference.

He argued that “fake news” coverage overlooks what he described as US military successes, claiming the US has taken control of Iran’s airspace and surrounding waterways “without boots on the ground”.

He pointed to the Iranian drone attack in Kuwait that killed six US personnel, saying: “When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front page news… The press only wants to make the president look bad.” He added: “Try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.”

Hegseth has previously faced criticism for reshaping Pentagon media access, including expanding credentials for a more ideological “press corps” after disputes over new press pass rules. At Wednesday’s briefing, many questions came from right-leaning outlets, although he did also take a question from the BBC and avoided or moved past some tougher lines of questioning from other reporters.