Trump confirms he may move White House press corps to a new location

In a post on his social media, Trump denied a report that he plans to demolish the White House press briefing room and restore the historic swimming pool at the site. According to him, he had never "even thought to do such a ​stupid thing."

The US president added that he might move the press corps from its current location in the White House.

"I may ​move the Fake News to a less obnoxious location," Trump said.

Backstory

Days ago, The New York Times learned that in August, Trump urged then-Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to move press briefings out of the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House, although the idea was never implemented.

According to the media, the US president told his aides that he would prefer an indoor therapeutic swimming pool, which was installed at the site during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. The Nixon administration replaced the pool with the press briefing room.

Trump regularly accuses American media outlets of unfairly covering his administration’s activities.

For example, in September, Trump briefly banned journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from entering the White House grounds and said that other media outlets could face similar restrictions. However, free speech advocates said the move violated press freedom guarantees enshrined in the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

The White House soon restored their access following a ruling by a federal judge who considered the ban likely unconstitutional, although the Trump administration still disputes the ruling.