President Donald Trump said he may relocate White House reporters to a “less obnoxious location” while rejecting claims that he intends to remove the press briefing room to restore a swimming pool originally built for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump said Saturday, Oct. 24, that he is considering relocating the White House press corps from its longtime briefing room, but firmly denied reports that he plans to replace the facility with a historic swimming pool.
The president addressed the speculation in a Truth Social post, responding to reports that he had discussed removing journalists from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the West Wing.
“There is a Fake News report out there that I am going to remove the White House Press Room and bring back the old Swimming Pool, which lies directly underneath. Although I may move the Fake News to a less obnoxious location, the old swimming pool will never be brought back. I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT,” Trump wrote.
The statement rejected the suggestion that the president intends to restore the swimming pool but left open the possibility of moving journalists to another location within the White House complex.
According to Reuters, Trump’s remarks followed a New York Times report alleging that he had proposed relocating the press corps during discussions with former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in August.
The report said Trump suggested moving news conferences out of the existing briefing room, although the proposal was never implemented.
The president reportedly expressed interest in the indoor swimming pool originally installed during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration.
The pool was constructed in 1933 to provide Roosevelt, who had limited mobility following a paralytic illness, with facilities for therapeutic swimming and exercise.
It remained part of the White House complex for several decades before President Richard Nixon’s administration converted the space into a press briefing room in 1970.
The former pool area was covered rather than completely demolished, and portions of the original structure remain beneath the briefing room floor.
The facility was subsequently named in honor of James S. Brady, the White House press secretary who was seriously wounded during the 1981 assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan.
Today, the briefing room serves as the principal location for formal White House news conferences and daily interactions between administration spokespeople and accredited journalists.
Trump’s comments have renewed attention to his administration’s relationship with the White House press corps, which has experienced repeated disagreements over access, coverage and media credentials.
The president has frequently criticized major news organizations, accusing them of publishing misleading or politically biased reporting about his administration.
His latest remarks suggest that he remains dissatisfied with the current location of White House journalists, although he did not identify an alternative site or announce a timetable for any relocation.
The New York Times reporting described by Al Jazeera indicated that the president had previously raised the possibility of moving reporters from the briefing room.
Leavitt, whose tenure as press secretary ended in August, reportedly discussed the proposal with Trump, but no changes were made.
During an appearance Friday on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” Leavitt also acknowledged the president’s interest in the history of the former White House swimming pool.
“Look, it was a swimming pool at one time. In fact, if you go down the stairs, underneath where the briefing room is, you can actually see the tile from where the pool used to be,” Leavitt said.
She added that Trump had been considering the historical possibilities of the space, although his subsequent statement explicitly ruled out restoring the pool.
The dispute comes after the administration temporarily restricted White House access for journalists representing CNN, MS NOW and Politico in September.
Those restrictions prompted a legal challenge, with press freedom advocates arguing that the government had improperly limited access based on the organizations’ coverage.
A federal judge subsequently determined that the restrictions were likely unconstitutional and ordered the White House to restore the journalists’ access.
The administration complied with the order while continuing to contest the ruling in court, according to Reuters.
The controversy has become part of a broader disagreement over the government’s authority to determine which journalists can attend official White House events.
The administration maintains that it has discretion over press access and arrangements within federal facilities, while media organizations argue that such decisions must comply with constitutional protections.
Moving the briefing room would not necessarily prevent journalists from covering the administration, but the consequences would depend on whether any new location provided comparable access to White House officials and events.
The White House has not announced formal plans to renovate the briefing room, relocate reporters or change the existing press facilities.
According to The Independent, Trump’s Saturday statement was the clearest public indication that he might consider moving the press corps, despite dismissing the reported swimming pool proposal.
The president’s remarks also drew attention because they distinguished between two separate possibilities: relocating journalists and restoring the historic pool.
While Trump acknowledged the first remained under consideration, he categorically rejected the second.
For now, the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room remains in operation, and no replacement location has been identified.
The president’s statement leaves unresolved whether the White House will eventually change its press arrangements or retain the longstanding briefing room configuration established during the Nixon administration.
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