US President Donald Trump Confirms Potential White House Press Relocation
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday, October 24, 2026, that he may relocate the White House press corps to a different location, dismissing separate reports that he planned to tear down the media workspace to restore a historic swimming pool. Reuters reported that while Trump shot down the pool-restoration rumor on social media, he openly floated moving reporters out of their current quarters.
The White House press corps currently operates out of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, a space built during the Nixon administration over an indoor pool installed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Trump’s latest statements follow ongoing friction between his administration and various news organizations over press access and reporting.
Trump denies pool plans but threatens to move press
Writing on social media on October 24, 2026, Trump dismissed a report that he planned to remove the press room to rebuild the historic Roosevelt-era indoor therapy pool. He stated that he had never “even thought to do such a stupid thing,” according to Reuters.
Even so, the president made clear that changing the press corps’ working environment remains under consideration. “I may move the Fake News to a less obnoxious location,” Trump said in the post.
The social media post came after The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Trump had urged then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt in August to move news conferences out of the Brady Press Briefing Room. According to that report, aides were told the president favored replacing the press room with the old indoor pool, though the plan was never put into motion.
Legal Battles Over White House Press Access
The debate over the physical press workspace unfolds against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the administration and major news outlets. Trump has repeatedly accused US media companies of publishing unfair coverage of his administration.
Last month, the administration briefly banned journalists representing CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House grounds, warning that other outlets could face similar restrictions. Free speech advocates criticized the ban as a direct violation of First Amendment protections for a free press.
The White House restored press credentials for the barred outlets following an order from a federal judge who deemed the restrictions likely unconstitutional. Reuters noted that the Trump administration is continuing to contest the case in court.
Questions about press corps relocation and White House access
When did Donald Trump confirm he might move the press corps?
Trump confirmed he was considering a move in a social media post published on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
What space currently occupies the site of the former Roosevelt swimming pool?
The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room occupies the space, having replaced an indoor pool installed during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration when the Nixon administration was in power.
Which media outlets were temporarily banned from White House grounds last month?
Journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were briefly barred from the grounds before a federal judge ordered their access restored.