Trump Says He May Move White House Press Corps to a Different Location

President Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday that he may move the White House press corps to a different location, Reuters reported.

In a social media post, Trump dismissed a report that he planned to remove the White House press room and restore a historic swimming pool on the site, saying he had never “even thought to do such a stupid thing.”

“I may move the Fake News to a less obnoxious location,” Trump said in the post.

What the earlier report said

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 White House’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, although the idea was never implemented.

According to the report, the president told aides he would rather have an indoor therapy pool that was installed at the site during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. The Nixon administration replaced the pool with the press briefing room.

A running fight with the press

Trump has regularly accused US media of unfair reporting about his administration.

Last month, Trump briefly banned journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds and said other outlets could face similar restrictions. Reuters reported that free speech advocates said the move violated First Amendment protections for a free press.

The White House reinstated their access after an order from a federal judge who deemed the ban likely unconstitutional, although the Trump administration is still contesting the case.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.