White House Leaves Door Open to Replacing Press Room With Swimming Pool

The White House has declined to dismiss reports that President Donald Trump is considering converting the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room back into an indoor swimming pool, a move that would displace the resident press corps from the West Wing.

When asked about the potential renovation, White House communications director Steven Cheung told The New York Times that "all options remain on the table" while criticizing mainstream news outlets. Cheung added that the administration would "make an announcement when appropriate," according to coverage documented by TheWrap.

The proposal, detailed by The Times' Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, resurfaced during conversations between Trump and then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Under the scenario discussed by administration aides, journalists would be shifted out of the West Wing footprint entirely and relocated across the street to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The site carries a long history in presidential infrastructure. Built during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency to assist with his physical therapy, the subterranean pool was paved over and converted into the dedicated press workspace in 1970 under President Richard Nixon. Trump has publicly teased the idea of reversing that change before, notably posting a side-by-side image of the modern press room and the FDR-era pool on Truth Social in September.

For broadcast networks, cable news operations and major print outlets, proximity to the West Wing remains a key logistical asset. As Hollywood Tomorrow notes, physically detaching the press corps from the executive mansion would fundamentally reshape day-to-day newsgathering access and alter a decades-old standard for presidential media coverage.