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Trump says he might move White House press corps, won't replace briefing room with swimming pool
· Confirmed
In Short: President Donald Trump denied reports that he planned to remove the White House press briefing room to restore a historic swimming pool located underneath it.
President Donald Trump denied reports that he planned to remove the White House press briefing room to restore a historic swimming pool located underneath it. According to Al Jazeera (Qatar), Trump told aides he wanted to bring back the indoor pool constructed in 1933 for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but the proposal did not move forward during former press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s tenure, which ended on August 27.
In contrast, thecitizen.co.tz (Tanzania, United Republic of) reported that Trump did not identify the report he was disputing or detail any planned changes to the press room, but he said he might move members of the news media to what he described as 'a less obnoxious location.'
Trump wrote on Truth Social, '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,' and denied the reports in a social media post on Friday.
Al Jazeera (Qatar) reported that Trump had pitched the idea to move journalists out of the White House’s storied James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, while thecitizen.co.tz (Tanzania, United Republic of) noted that Trump did not specify the report he was disputing.
Both publications agree that Trump denied the reports and that any plans to relocate the White House press corps would significantly alter how reporters cover the presidency.
The Brady Press Briefing Room, built above a former indoor pool in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, has long been the central site for briefings and daily access to the White House.
The New York Times reported that Trump had urged then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in August to move news conferences out of the briefing room, although the proposal was not implemented.
The New York Times and Al Jazeera (Qatar) agree that Trump has a history of controversial projects that would transform the White House property.
The New York Times also reported that Trump banned journalists from three US-based media outlets—CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO—from the White House, a move that proponents of free speech said violated First Amendment protections.
The New York Times and Al Jazeera (Qatar) both reported that the Trump administration continues to fight the ruling against the White House press ban.
The New York Times and Al Jazeera (Qatar) agree that Trump’s proposal to move the press corps would be the latest in a long list of controversial projects he has ordered that would transform the property.
The New York Times and Al Jazeera (Qatar) agree that any changes to the White House press briefing room would be significant and potentially controversial.
Background
President Donald Trump denied reports that he planned to remove the White House press briefing room to restore a historic swimming pool.
The Supreme Court has temporarily halted a lower court injunction to allow President Trump's administration to continue construction on the White House ballroom, according to new reports.
What's confirmed
- BOTELHO | The National News Desk WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump said there are no plans to remove the White House press briefing room and restore the swimming pool that once occupied the space beneath it.
- “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,” Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social.
- Trump did not identify the report he was disputing or detail any planned changes to the press room, but he said he might move members of the news media to what he described as "a less obnoxious location."
- The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Mr Trump had urged then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in August to move news conferences out of the briefing room, although the proposal was not implemented.
- Trump told Feinberg to "be careful" after Feinberg questioned why a new whistleblower program offered a 1% commission when the False Claims Act can award whistleblowers at least 10%.
- The president lashed out at CNN's Kaitlan Collins during an exchange outside the White House on Wednesday, calling the reporter "a low-IQ person" and "a dummy." The confrontation occurred as Collins pressed Trump on whether his decision to waive sanctions on Russia was connected to the release of Stephen Hubbard, an American teacher who had been detained there since 2022.
- President Richard Nixon had the pool covered in 1970 to create space for television press briefings.
- Vice President JD Vance called it a "fundamentally dishonest question."
- Trump defended his negotiations with Russia over the release, with Collins continuing to press him on his claims.
- Trump cut him off with "quiet," so the full question was not completed or publicly reported.
- Trump later made the "are you a sick person?" comment when Feinberg began asking about Trump's golf courses.
- The comments follow Trump's move to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House.
What's still developing
- Mayor Katie Wilson’s office ordered Seattle police to delay press briefings on the Bite of Seattle festival mass shooting until the mayor arrived on scene, according to details revealed by police leadership. (The Center Square) - Mayor Katie Wilson’s office ordered Seattle police to delay press briefings on the Bite of Seattle festival mass shooting until the mayor arrived on scene, according to details revealed by police leadership Tuesday morning.
- As the NY Post reports, during Tuesday’s episode of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” immediately after Zacharia’s first White House press briefing, the serial college dropout called her “Malibu Katie” and sneered at her intelligence.
- Press secretary Katie Zacharia is expected to be "transitioning out" of her role with the White House.
- A Pushcart-nominated poet and proud Piscean, if she’s not feverishly writing, you can find her stress baking, swimming, and adding to her tarot card deck collection.
- Katie Zacharia Delivers Cringe-Inducing First White House Press Briefing LIST: 36 Artists Have Won CMA Entertainer Of The Year — Who Will Be Next?
- Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham have had a meeting - their first since Burnham won the Makerfield by-election last week It comes as the PM's spokesman says Burnham has been granted access to civil service briefings as a Labour leadership contender Who else could run for the top job?
- A “report about a potential assassination attempt on Prime Minister Donald Tusk, as well as on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, was transmitted to the police via the State Protection Service (SOP),” interior spokeswoman Karolina Galecka said at a press briefing.
- "We're investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know," Vance told reporters during a White House press briefing.
- “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague. She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones,” the US banking giant said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.
- Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister and the newly appointed Congress party in-charge for Punjab, Sachin Pilot, Friday asked the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) to conduct a school ‘audit’ in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled Punjab with the “same courage” as it has been doing elsewhere.
- “I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing!” he wrote in a Truth Social post.