White House Press Corps Could Be Moved, Trump Hints

The White House press corps could soon be packing up. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he "may move the Fake News to a less obnoxious location," a line that turned a strange story about a swimming pool into a real fight over how reporters cover the president.

According to Reuters, Trump confirmed in a social media post that he could relocate reporters from their current spot inside the building. He also dismissed a newspaper report that he wanted to rip out the press room and bring back an old indoor pool.

The Pool Story That Started It

The saga began on Tuesday, when The New York Times reported that Trump had urged his then press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, in August to move reporters out of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. That plan never went anywhere during her tenure, which ended on August twenty-seventh, as Al Jazeera notes.

The Times also reported that Trump told aides he would rather have the indoor therapy pool installed there during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency in nineteen thirty-three. Roosevelt, who had polio, often swam to ease soreness. The Nixon administration later built a floor over the pool to make room for a briefing space for the growing press corps, and the pool still sits beneath it.

Trump pushed back hard. "I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing!" he wrote, adding that the old swimming pool "will never be brought back." Even so, Leavitt said in a Friday appearance on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" that Trump was "flirting" with the idea of restoring it.

A Room With Five Decades of History

The briefing room has been the daily home of the White House press corps for more than five decades. It is where reporters sit in assigned seats, shout follow-up questions and hold officials to account in front of cameras. Moving the corps would change who gets close to the president, and how easily.

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung did not rule it out. Asked about the reported eviction plan, he said "all options remain on the table, and we will make an announcement when appropriate," according to CBS News as cited by Hoodline. Former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer argued that keeping reporters close actually serves the White House, since it makes access easier for the Secret Service and others.

A Messy Season for Press Access

This comes amid a tense stretch between the administration and journalists. Last month, Trump barred reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, a move that free speech advocates said violated First Amendment protections, according to Al Jazeera.

A federal judge ruled the order was likely unconstitutional, and access was restored, although the administration is still contesting the ruling. The White House also barred CNN from Air Force One for an upcoming trip, per Al Jazeera's recent coverage.

On Tuesday, Trump lashed out at Andrew Feinberg, the White House correspondent for The Independent, during an Oval Office event. "What's wrong with you? Are you a sick person?" Trump said as Feinberg tried to ask a question. The White House then amplified the clip on social media.

Why This Matters for Gen Z

Most young people never step inside the briefing room, but the fight is about something they feel every day: who controls the information that reaches their feeds. If the White House press corps ends up farther from the Oval Office, fewer unscripted questions may get asked, and more messages may arrive through official posts instead.

Al Jazeera pointed out that any change would be the latest in a long list of controversial building projects, including the demolition of the East Wing for a new ballroom, new concrete pavers over the Rose Garden lawn and a helipad on the South Lawn. For more on the political fallout, check the politics section.

What Happens Next

No formal order has been announced. Cheung promised an announcement "when appropriate," and civil liberties groups are expected to scrutinize any move that limits access. Courts have already weighed in once on the earlier ban, so a relocation could end up there as well.

For now, the White House press corps remains in the Brady room, sitting on top of a pool that may or may not ever see daylight. The next few weeks, just before the midterm elections, will show whether Trump's "less obnoxious location" is a real plan or another headline-grabbing jab at reporters.