[REVISION HISTORY]

Trump administration proposal to repurpose White House press

Updated 2 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-24 16:44 UTC → 2026-10-25 01:32 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Donald Trump has proposed converting the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room back into an indoor swimming pool, a site that originally housed a pool used by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Initial reports indicated the idea was discussed in August with former press secretary Karoline Leavitt, suggesting that journalists would be relocated to a location outside the White House complex. Trump later promoted the concept on Truth Social, sharing a graphic comparing the current briefing room to a gold-accented pool recreation. However, Trump has since used Truth Social to deny reports that he intends to demolish the briefing room to restore the historic therapy pool, dismissing the idea of restoring it as ~~“stupid.”~~ “stupid” and labeling reports of the plan as “Fake News.” He has instead indicated he may relocate the White House press corps to a “less obnoxious location” to move away from what he terms “Fake News.” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung stated that “all options remain on the table” and that an announcement will be made when appropriate. This proposal follows a period of friction between the administration and the media, including judicial orders regarding First Amendment protections and recent restrictions on media access to certain presidential events. While a federal judge ordered the reinstatement of access for CNN, MSNBC, and Politico after they were briefly banned, the administration continues to contest the court order.

Versions

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.