Obama, Trump paint contrasting pictures of role of White House press corps

President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump described two very different visions for how the White House press corp should operate, with Trump setting the stage for significant changes to the status quo. Trump’s press team has been teasing out the possibility that White House daily briefing may be moved out of the Brady Briefing Room in the West Wing of the White House, perhaps to a space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, or the White House Conference Center. They have also raised the possibility of other changes, including taking over responsibility for which outlets and reporters get credentialed, and which reporters can sit where. Trump himself told Fox News that while the daily briefing will stay in the White House, his press team may restrict access to who can attend.

President Obama, in his final news conference as president, painted a very different picture of the role the White House press corp should play. “Having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest, it makes us work harder,” President Obama said, apparently in reference to the idea that the briefings should move outside of the West Wing. “America needs you, and our democracy needs you.”