Trump Floats Relocating Reporters To Less Obnoxious Location

President Donald Trump said on Friday he could relocate the White House press corps away from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, posting on Truth Social that he might move reporters "to a less obnoxious location." In the same post, he rejected accounts that he planned to demolish the briefing room to uncover the 1933 swimming pool beneath it, calling those reports "Fake News" and writing, "I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing!"

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

The New York Times also reported that Trump pitched the idea of moving journalists out of the briefing room to his former press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, and that the proposal did not advance during her tenure, which ended on August 27. Leavitt said in a Friday interview on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" that the president 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 post arrives as tensions run between Trump and the reporters assigned to cover him. Last month, journalists from CNN, MSNBC and POLITICO were barred from the White House, a step free speech advocates said violated First Amendment protections. A federal judge ruled the order was likely unconstitutional, and the White House restored their access while the administration continues to contest the ruling. At an Oval Office event on Tuesday, Trump turned on Andrew Feinberg, The Independent's White House correspondent, as Feinberg tried to ask a question, saying: "What's wrong with you? Are you a sick person? I actually think there's something wrong with you." The White House amplified the exchange on social media.

Any change to the briefing room would add to a list of alterations Trump has made to the White House grounds since returning to power last year. He has demolished the East Wing to build a new ballroom, laid 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 immediately respond to a request for comment.