Kingsley Wilson, née Cortes, has been announced as the Department of Defense’s new Press Secretary. Wilson, the daughter of conservative commentator Steve Cortes, previously served as a writing fellow at The National Pulse, worked at social media platform GETTR, and most recently, at the Center for Renewing America.
Wilson has been the deputy press secretary at the Pentagon since January 21, 2025. Her promotion was announced today by Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Chief Pentagon Spokesman & Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense Sean Parnell.
“The Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs is announcing that Kingsley Wilson will serve as Press Secretary for the Department of Defense. Kingsley’s leadership has been integral to the DoD’s success & we look forward to her continued service to President Trump! Congrats, Kingsley!”
Wilson has become a key target of left-wing and deep state activism in recent months, with the far-left Mother Jones blog attempting a March 5 hit piece to try to get her fired. The anti-American NPR network followed suit. Instead, Wilson has been promoted.
As the news broke, Wilson commented on her X account: “Honored to serve President Trump and our warfighters.”
Honored to serve President Trump and our warfighters
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/HdtamdaRhk
— Kingsley Wilson (@PressSecDOD) May 23, 2025