Trump Floats Moving White House Reporters Out of West Wing Briefing Room

President Donald Trump said Friday he might relocate the White House press corps to a location outside the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, raising questions about where daily briefings would be held and what would happen to the room itself. In a Truth Social post, he dismissed reports that he planned to dismantle the briefing room to rebuild a swimming pool beneath it, writing that he had never considered such a move and calling the accounts Fake News.

Trump wrote that the reporters who cover the White House could be moved to a less obnoxious location. The New York Times reported earlier this week that Trump had raised the idea with former press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who left the role on August 27. The proposal did not progress while she held the post.

The pool dates to 1933, when it was built in the West Wing for President Franklin D Roosevelt, who had polio and used swimming to ease soreness, according to his presidential library. President Richard Nixon ordered a floor installed over the pool in the 1970s to create space for a briefing room as the press corps grew. The pool remains beneath that floor. The Times reported that Trump told aides he wanted to bring it back.

Leavitt said in a Friday interview that Trump was flirting with restoring the pool. Appearing on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, she said he maybe wants to restore it to all of its glory, adding that she did not know whether he would do it.

The discussion comes during a strained stretch between Trump and the journalists who cover him. Last month, he barred reporters from CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House. A federal judge ruled the order was likely unconstitutional and the administration restored their access, though it continues to fight the ruling. At an Oval Office event on Tuesday, Trump addressed Andrew Feinberg, The Independent's White House correspondent, as Feinberg attempted to ask a question, saying: What's wrong with you? Are you a sick person? I actually think there's something wrong with you.

Changes to the briefing room would follow other work on the White House grounds since Trump returned to power. He demolished the East Wing to build a ballroom, covered the lawn at the center of the Rose Garden with concrete pavers, and built a helipad on the South Lawn. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.