The Pentagon should not be in charge of what journalists can report on, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, in the wake of a new Pentagon ruling restricting reporters from sharing unauthorized information.

The Pentagon released policy guidance Friday requiring reporters to pledge they will only report information that is explicitly authorized for release by Department of War officials. If reporters fail to follow the guidelines, the department could revoke their credentials. The guidance comes after recently announced restrictions on where reporters have access within the Pentagon.

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Trump struck a different tone Sunday when a White House reporter asked him if the Pentagon should play a role in deciding what information jounalists can report.

“No, I don’t think so,” Trump said. “Nothing stops reporters. You know that.”

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told reporters in a memo released Friday that all Pentagon reporters will be required to read and sign a media form outlining the new policies.

“DoW remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust. However, DoW information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified,” the memo reads.

The Pentagon pointed to the possible national security threat that any release of classified national security information or controlled unclassified information may pose in the memo.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth touted the new guidelines restricting the media’s physical access in the Pentagon on his X account. The guidelines also require all reporters to wear a new, bright-red press badge.

“The ‘press’ does not run the Pentagon — the people do. The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility. Wear a badge and follow the rules — or go home,” Hegseth said.

The Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement Saturday condemning the new “unconstitutional restrictions” on Pentagon reporters, saying they are “deeply alarmed” by the announcement.

“This policy reeks of prior restraint — the most egregious violation of press freedom under the First Amendment — and is a dangerous step toward government censorship. Attempts to silence the press under the guise of ‘security’ are part of a disturbing pattern of growing government hostility toward transparency and democratic norms,” the Society of Professional Journalists wrote in the statement.

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Parnell called the policies “basic, common-sense guidelines to protect sensitive information” in a statement:

“The guidelines in the memo provided to credentialed resident media at the Pentagon reaffirms the standards that are already in line with every other military base in the country.”