Trump Says He’s ‘Thinking About Moving the Press’ as New Lawsuit Targets White House Media Bans
President Donald Trump has confirmed he is considering moving the White House press corps out of its longtime workspace, while denying reports that he plans to put a swimming pool in the briefing room.
“I am not building a swimming pool in the White House Briefing Room, and never had any intention of doing so,” Trump wrote Sunday night on Truth Social.
“I am thinking about moving the Press, and putting them in a different location, but I will use that location for very badly needed space.”
The remarks came in a roughly 1,300-word post attacking comedian Bill Maher, Trump’s longest ever on the platform, The Washington Sun reported. Asked about plans for the press, the White House pointed the outlet to the post.
Trump called Maher a “COMPLETE AND TOTAL LOSER.” Maher had dined at the White House earlier this month and later criticized the administration.
On Maher’s HBO show Friday, former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested Trump had been “flirting” with turning the briefing room back into a swimming pool. A pool sits beneath the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
The New York Times reported last week that Trump raised the idea of moving reporters out of the briefing room with Leavitt in August.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the West Wing could serve as a new base for credentialed media, the Times reported.
Leavitt, who left the post to spend time with her young children, is set to join Fox News on Nov. 1, Deadline reported.
Lawsuit Targets Press Restrictions
Also on Monday, six Americans sued the administration in federal court in New York, arguing that its restrictions on White House press access violate the public’s First Amendment rights, TheWrap reported.
The suit was filed by Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute and Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic. It challenges the White House’s practice of excluding news outlets over coverage Trump considers false or unfavorable.
The plaintiffs are human rights advocate Kenneth Roth, journalist Daniel Froomkin, Yale historian Beverly Gage, New York City teacher Peter Schmidt-Nowara, Lawfare editor Benjamin Wittes and student journalist Ethan Young.
Defendants include White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Communications Director Steven Cheung and Secret Service Director Sean Curran.
“The First Amendment protects the public’s right to know what its government is doing,” said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight Institute. “The White House cannot decide what information Americans receive by punishing critical reporting.”
A White House official defended the restrictions. “No person may demand access to the Oval Office,” the official said, adding that outlets accused of misinformation and defamation can still report from outside.
The plaintiffs are seeking a court declaration and an order blocking the policy, but not money damages, the BBC reported.
They argue that the threat of losing access distorts coverage even by reporters who keep their credentials.
The case follows the administration’s decision in September to revoke White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. A federal judge ordered their access restored on Oct. 13, and the administration has appealed.
CNN has threatened further legal action after its reporters were kept off Air Force One press pool trips.
In February 2025, the White House took control of the presidential press pool from the White House Correspondents’ Association. It also restricted Associated Press reporters over the outlet’s refusal to use the name “Gulf of America,” a dispute still in court.
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