President Trump repeatedly pressed former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to remove reporters from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room and restore the indoor pool originally built for Franklin D. Roosevelt, telling her in a late August Oval Office meeting that it would be her “last legacy,” according to The New York Times.
The proposal never advanced while Leavitt was still in the role. Trump had raised the idea with her several times over a period of months, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Leavitt stepped down as press secretary on Aug. 27.
On Sept. 27, Trump posted images on Truth Social showing the current briefing room labeled “Fake News” next to a reimagined gilded swimming pool labeled “FDR Pool.” The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Trump had discussed relocating the press corps multiple times, though some advisers had pushed back or hoped the idea would fade.
 |
| Seating Chart of First Two Rows In Press Briefing Room |
Trump has long preferred returning the space to the indoor pool Roosevelt added in 1933 for therapy related to polio; Richard Nixon later covered the pool to create room for the media. Credentialed journalists currently work out of a small office connected to the briefing room. While physically moving the press would be a relatively limited step compared with Trump’s broader criticism of news organizations, it would carry symbolic weight. The media’s proximity to the executive branch has long been treated as a practical recognition of the role of a free press.
Trump floated similar ideas during his first term and has not dropped them. Support for the move has grown among some people close to him, with several favoring a relocation to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street. The shift reflects changes in the staff around him: his core team is smaller than the group that entered the White House, he has grown more frustrated with press coverage, and advisers of increasing influence have encouraged more aggressive steps against journalists. Earlier in the term, most senior aides had argued that keeping the media nearby better served the president.