Trump weighs moving White House press corps out of building
President Trump has discussed the possibility of moving the White House press corps to another building, according to two people close to the president — a move that could escalate Mr. Trump’s clashes with news organizations over coverage and access.
Outside allies of the president have pushed the idea in recent weeks, including former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, one source told CBS News.
No final decisions have been made, according to both sources.
The discussions were first reported by The New York Times.
In response to the Times’ report, White House communications director Steven Cheung posted to X a statement that read: “America is rightly distrustful of the fake news media because they fabricate stories based off lies and sources who are not even privy to any type of information. … All options remain on the table, and we will make an announcement when appropriate.”
CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment.
Reporters have had dedicated workspaces in the White House building for more than a century. The current press briefing room was constructed during the Nixon administration, replacing a swimming pool that dated back to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.
But late last month, Mr. Trump posted a before-and-after image to Truth Social that suggested the briefing room could be turned back into a swimming pool.
Ahead of Mr. Trump’s first term, administration officials floated the idea of moving the press corps out of the building, framing it as a bid to broaden access by using a roomier part of the White House complex rather than the small, cramped spaces in the West Wing. Incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus told NBC News the administration had discussed holding news conferences in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is adjacent to the West Wing.
Mr. Trump ultimately did not follow through with the plans, telling Fox News two days before his 2017 inauguration: “The press went crazy, so I said, ‘Let’s not move it.'”
The idea has appeared to reemerge after more than a year of disputes between the Trump administration and journalists over access to the White House.
Last month, Mr. Trump attempted to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House complex, accusing them of unfair coverage. Journalists from all three outlets were briefly unable to access the building, but a federal judge reinstated their press credentials, finding the ban likely violated the First Amendment and the news outlets’ right to due process.
The Trump administration has continued to periodically block CNN from participating in the television press pool, a group of five networks that cover the president’s travel and events on a rotating basis and provide video to other news organizations.
(CNN and CBS News are both part of Skydance, the parent company formed by the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.)
More than a year ago, the White House prevented the Associated Press from accessing the Oval Office and some other spaces because the wire service declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by Mr. Trump’s preferred term, the Gulf of America.
The Pentagon has also clamped down on press access. Last year, the military required reporters to sign onto a set of restrictions — including a promise not to “solicit” sensitive information — in order to maintain daily access to the Pentagon. Most news organizations declined to sign the new rules and vacated the building.
After a judge struck down the Pentagon’s press restrictions earlier this year, the military announced it would stop allowing reporters to enter the building unescorted altogether.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said a “new and improved press workspace will be established in an annex facility outside the Pentagon, but still on Pentagon grounds.”
