Trump hints that White House press area may be moved to another location

President Trump pushed back Saturday morning against reports he was considering replacing the White House press briefing room with an indoor swimming pool but said he was considering moving media “to a less obnoxious location.”

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported Trump expressed to aides he would like to bring back an indoor pool installed in 1933 during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The pool was later covered under former President Richard Nixon to make space for the briefing room.

“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 on Truth Social .

“Although I may move the Fake News to a less obnoxious location, the old swimming pool will never be brought back,” he continued. “I NEVER even thought to do such a stupid thing!”

The president and his administration have increasingly sought to restrict press access due to unfavorable reporting throughout his second term.

This week, the White House stripped The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg of his print press pool duties, barring him from traveling with the president after Trump lashed out at the reporter in the Oval Office.

White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) President Jacqui Heinrich accused the White House of acting in “retaliation.”

“The American public’s right to an independent press depends on reporters being able to do their jobs without fear that challenging the president will cut off their access,” Heinrich said in a statement .

A White House spokesperson defended the move in a Wednesday evening statement to The Hill.

“No person and no journalist has a constitutional right to access the President’s Oval Office, Air Force One, or other sensitive and private facilities,” the spokesperson said. “When publications lie, fabricate, and ignore the truth, proximity matters less and they can write their fiction from outside of these secure facilities.”

Last month, the WHCA also condemned the Trump administration’s decision to bar Politico, CNN and MS NOW from the White House. The move drew widespread criticism and an order from a federal judge to reinstate the media credentials to journalists from these outlets. Though CNN reporters, like Feinberg, are still unable to join the press pool on Air Force One.