Preibus: Larger press corps space to be in Washington. But which Washington?

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Report: White House press corps might be moved from West Wing

Transition team seeking space to accommodate hundreds of journalists in Washington

The New York Times reported that the White House press corps was stunned by reports of a proposal by the Trump administration to eject reporters from their home in the West Wing — a move that, if carried out, would uproot decades of established protocol whereby journalists are allowed to work in the White House close to senior officials.

According to the Times, Reince Priebus, Mr. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, appeared to backpedal on the idea after it was reported by Esquire magazine, saying that only the location of the press briefing room was being discussed and that the administration was merely considering a larger area to accommodate the hundreds of journalists seeking to cover Mr. Trump.

Priebus said, “We are aware that because of the global interest in everything that President-elect Trump does or says, the press corps is bound to expand and we simply want to make sure that we have the proper room in Washington to fit them all in.”

When pressed, Priebus did acknowledge that when he said Washington he was not necessarily referring to Washington D.C. as there are as many as 28 different cities in the U.S. with the name Washington.

While not confirmed, sources inside the Trump transition team indicate that if the press corps was to be moved to another Washington it would most likely be to the Nevada county town of Washington, California for two reasons: since Mr. Trump has vowed never to set foot in California as long as he’s president and given that California’s Washington is the furthest Washington from Washington D.C., the likelihood that he would ever have to see a member of the press during his presidency would be extremely remote.