Trump considers moving White House press corps

Proposal under discussion

President Trump has discussed relocating White House reporters and their dedicated workspaces to another building. Two people close to the president said no final decision has been made. One of them said outside allies have promoted the proposal in recent weeks, including former Trump strategist Steve Bannon.

White House communications director Steven Cheung criticized news organizations and said the administration is considering every option and would announce a decision when ready.

Reporters have worked from dedicated space inside the White House for more than a century. The current briefing room was built during the Nixon administration over a swimming pool dating to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. Trump posted an image on Truth Social late last month suggesting the room could again become a pool.

Access disputes and an earlier proposal

Trump officials considered a similar change before his first term. Incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus said news conferences could be held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the West Wing, where more people could fit. Trump abandoned the idea before his 2017 inauguration.

The renewed discussion follows disputes over journalists’ access. Trump tried last month to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House complex, but a federal judge restored their credentials after finding that the action likely violated the First Amendment and due-process protections.

The administration has also periodically excluded CNN from the rotating television press pool. More than a year ago, the White House restricted the Associated Press from the Oval Office and some other areas after it declined to use Trump’s preferred name, Gulf of America, for the Gulf of Mexico.