I fail to see the irony there. Anthropic had a preexisting contract with the DoD, and drew a line they don't have the authority to enforce.
Now Anthropic is being strongarmed regardless of how they feel, because the fed doesn't give a shit about their marketing spiel. It's the exact same playbook we saw used on Apple when they took the moral high road after San Bernardino. Nobody should be surprised by this stuff anymore, nor assume it's a single administration's problem.
The particularly detestable part of this admin is that they won't hide Anthropic's helplessness for the benefit of their marketing. They'll leak it right to the press and brag about how powerless Dario's words are.