Trump Floats Moving Reporters Out Of Briefing Room, Dismisses Pool Reports

President Donald Trump said on Friday he might move the White House press corps to a different location, while rejecting reports that he intended to dismantle the briefing room to rebuild a swimming pool underneath it. In a post on Truth Social, he called such accounts "Fake News" and wrote, "I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing!" He did allow that reporters who cover the White House could be sent "to a less obnoxious location".

The exchange centers on the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room and the structure beneath its floor. The New York Times reported on October 20 that Trump had pitched his former press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, on moving journalists out of the room. That idea did not advance during Leavitt's tenure, which ended August 27.

The pool at issue 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. During the 1970s, President Richard Nixon installed a floor over the pool to create 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 addressed the matter in a Friday interview on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher." She said Trump was "flirting" with restoring the pool and that he "maybe, wants to restore it to all of its glory." She added: "I don't know if he'll do it."

The remarks come during a strained stretch between Trump and the journalists who cover him. In September, he barred reporters from CNN, MSNBC and POLITICO from the White House, a step free speech advocates said conflicted with 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 litigate that ruling.

Trump also regularly attacks reporters he says treat him unfairly. At an Oval Office event on October 20, he turned on 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," Trump said. The White House later posted the exchange on social media.

Any relocation or demolition would join a series of physical changes Trump has made to the White House grounds since returning to power in January 2025. He has demolished the East Wing to build a ballroom, laid concrete pavers over the Rose Garden lawn at the property's center, and constructed a helipad on the South Lawn. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.