Trump Wants to Boot Press Briefing Room For Indoor Swimming Pool in Latest White House Makeover, Per Report

Oct. 21 2026, Published 1:15 p.m. ET

President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing to remove reporters from the White House briefing room, urging aides to relocate journalists so the space can be restored as an indoor swimming pool, RadarOnline can report.

In late August, Trump pressed then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt to move the press corps out of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, calling it her “last legacy.”

Restoring FDR's Pool

According to three people familiar with the discussions, the 80-year-old raised the idea with Leavitt several times over a period of months.

Leavitt stepped down on August 27 without implementing the plan. Trump has told aides he wants to bring back the indoor swimming pool that President Franklin D. Roosevelt installed in 1933 for polio therapy.

President Richard Nixon later covered the pool to create the modern briefing room.

Where the Press Would Go?

Relocating the press would free the space for the restoration Trump reportedly prefers. Journalists currently work in a small office area connected to the briefing room.

One option under d...