Trump Pushed to Evict White House Press Corps From 1933 Briefing-Room Site
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 20
Trump Pushed to Evict White House Press Corps From 1933 Briefing-Room Site
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 20
Summary
Late August meetings show Trump repeatedly urged then-press secretary Karoline Leavitt to move reporters out of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, a step that would effectively remove major news organizations from the White House.
Trump told aides he wants to restore the indoor pool Franklin D. Roosevelt added in 1933, which Richard Nixon later covered to create space for the press corps and its adjoining work area.
The plan did not advance before Leavitt left on Aug. 27, but people familiar with the discussions said Trump had raised it several times over months.
Several people close to Trump favor relocating journalists, likely to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street, in what allies see as a further escalation of his long-running attacks on the news media.
Because the press corps' proximity to the presidency has long symbolized the role of a free press, such a move would carry lasting institutional weight and could be hard for future presidents to reverse.