Arkin appeared on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday, days after he wrote a scathing memo explaining why he was departing from NBC News after decades as a military analyst. Arkin in the memo, obtained by CNN, said that he believes the media has been doing a poor job of covering the “perpetual war” that the U.S. is still engaged in.

“We need to have Trump-free days, we need to have actual investigative correspondents working on actual investigations, we need to have some courage to criticize the military and criticize the national security community,” Arkin told CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday.

“I think part of what happens when you’re involved in the circus on a day-to-day basis is that you don’t have an opportunity to develop the kind of deep sources that are necessary to do these investigations,” he added.