Trump says he may move White House press corps to new location | Donald Trump News
Trump’s remarks come at a time of tension between the US president and the journalists who cover him.
Published on October 24, 2026
US President Donald Trump has confirmed he may move the White House press corps to another location, possibly away from the executive residence.
In a social media post Friday, Trump called reports that he planned to remove the White House press briefing room in favor of restoring a historic swimming pool below it as “fake news.”
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“I NEVER thought about doing such a stupid thing!” he wrote in a Truth Social article.
Trump, however, indicated that he might move dozens of journalists who cover the White House “to somewhere less unpleasant.”
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump presented his former press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, with an idea to move reporters out of the White House’s famed James S. Brady Press Room. This proposal did not come to fruition during Leavitt’s term, which ended on August 27.
Trump’s remarks come at a moment of tension between him and the journalists who cover him.
Last month, Trump banned journalists from three U.S.-based media outlets — CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO — from the White House, a move that free speech advocates said violated First Amendment protections.
A US federal judge ruled that the order was likely unconstitutional, forcing the White House to restore journalists’ access. The Trump administration continues to fight the decision.
Trump has also regularly berated and disparaged members of the media who he believes cover him unfairly.
The latest incident occurred Tuesday during an event in the Oval Office, when Trump attacked Andrew Feinberg, White House correspondent for The Independent.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you a sick person? Actually, I think there’s something wrong with you,” Trump said as Feinberg tried to ask a question. The moment was amplified by the White House on social networks.
If Trump chooses to make changes to the White House press briefing room, it would be the latest in a long list of controversial projects he has ordered that would transform the property.
Since returning to office last year, the US president has demolished the East Wing of the White House to build a new ballroom, installed concrete pavers on the lawn in the center of the White House Rose Garden and built a helipad on the South Lawn.
The Times reported that Trump told aides he wanted to bring back an indoor West Wing pool built in 1933 for use by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who suffered from polio and often swam, according to his presidential library, to relieve his pain.
In the 1970s, former President Richard Nixon built a floor above the pool to accommodate a briefing room for the growing White House press corps. The pool remains below the briefing room floor.
Leavitt confirmed in an interview Friday that Trump was “flirting” with the idea of restoring the pool.
“Maybe he just wants to restore it to its former glory,” Leavitt said during an appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” “I don’t know if he will.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
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