President Donald Trump criticized a proposed Pentagon policy restricting press access, even as he continued to accuse journalists of producing what he calls “illegal” reporting.
On Sunday, outside the White House before departing for Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in Glendale, Arizona, Trump was asked directly whether the Defense Department should play a role in deciding what journalists are allowed to publish. “No, I don’t think so. Nothing stops reporters, you know that,” he responded.
The Washington Post reported Friday that the Pentagon, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, had drafted a 17-page policy requiring journalists to sign an agreement before reporting from the department. Those who refuse would lose their Pentagon credentials.
The draft outlines a broad pre-approval process: “DoW information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.”
In the document, the Pentagon—referred to as the Department of War under Trump—maintains that it is “committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust.” Despite that assurance, critics argue the restrictions could sharply limit press freedom.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon offered immediate comment on the report. Trump’s comments distancing himself from the proposed policy clash with remarks he made just two days earlier. Speaking at a conference on Friday, he described much of the media’s coverage of him as dishonest, going so far as to call it unlawful.
“I’m a very strong person for free speech,” Trump said, before questioning whether unfavorable media should qualify. “97 percent of the people are against me in the sense that the newscasts are against me. The stories are 97 percent bad. They’ll take a great story, and they’ll make it bad. See, I think that’s really illegal, personally.”
He also argued that much of the press acted less like independent journalists and more like “offshoots of the Democratic National Committee.” “Again, when somebody is given, 97 percent of the stories are bad about a person, that’s no longer free speech… that’s just cheating, and they cheat,” he said.
The conflicting messages highlight Trump’s long-standing tension with the press: a vocal defense of free speech when it comes to conservative voices, paired with sharp attacks on coverage he views as hostile.
Whether Hegseth’s proposed restrictions will advance remains unclear, but the draft has already raised alarm among media advocates who argue that government pre-approval of reporting undermines one of the core principles of American democracy.