Trump Floats Moving Reporters Out of West Wing Briefing Room

President Donald Trump suggested on Friday he could relocate the White House press corps to what he called a less obnoxious location, a Truth Social post that also rejected reports he intended to dismantle the briefing room. In the same post, Trump dismissed accounts that he wanted to remove the room to uncover a historic swimming pool beneath it as Fake News, writing: "I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing!" He added that reporters who cover the White House could be moved "to a less obnoxious location".

The New York Times reported on October 20 that Trump had pitched former press secretary Karoline Leavitt on moving journalists out of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. The idea did not advance during Leavitt's tenure, which ended August 27. Leavitt said in a Friday interview that Trump was "flirting" with restoring the pool, adding on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" that he "maybe, wants to restore it to all of its glory" and "I don't know if he'll do it."

The pool was built in 1933 in the West Wing for President Franklin D Roosevelt, who had polio and swam to ease soreness, according to his presidential library. In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon had a floor built over the pool to create a briefing room for the growing press corps. The pool remains beneath that floor. The New York Times reported Trump told aides he wanted to bring it back.

The remarks come during a tense stretch between Trump and the reporters who cover him. Last month he barred journalists from CNN, MSNBC and POLITICO from the White House, a step free speech proponents said violated First Amendment protections. A US federal judge ruled the order was likely unconstitutional and the White House restored the journalists' access; the administration continues to fight that ruling. At an Oval Office event on October 20, Trump addressed Andrew Feinberg, The Independent's White House correspondent, as Feinberg tried to ask a question: "What's wrong with you? Are you a sick person? I actually think there's something wrong with you."

Any change to the briefing room would add to alterations on the White House property since Trump returned to power last year. He has demolished the East Wing to build a new ballroom, placed concrete pavers over the lawn at the center of the Rose Garden, and built a helipad on the South Lawn. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.