President-elect Trump’s efforts to reshape Washington will remain incomplete unless he also overhauls the White House briefing room. This iconic space, home to 49 reporters from the most influential outlets, remains stuck in the 1980s.
In today’s world, where news is consumed through platforms that didn’t exist four decades ago, the briefing room stands as a relic of a time when mainstream media dominated, and Americans had limited sources of information.
Even though readership and viewership for traditional news outlets have sharply declined, the front rows of the briefing room are still filled with representatives from The Washington Post, The New York Times, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News, and a select few others.
Calls for reform grow as the briefing room reflects a bygone media era
This setup has barely changed since the seats were installed by President Ronald Reagan, reflecting an outdated media landscape. The persistent failures of these outlets—ranging from spreading false stories about Trump’s supposed Russia collusion to downplaying damaging revelations about Joe Biden—demonstrate their inability to fulfill their most basic responsibility: delivering truthful news.
These media outlets continue to broadcast misinformation that damages Trump’s reputation while suppressing or ignoring stories that could harm Biden’s.
Despite their proven inaccuracies, these journalists expect to be exempt from scrutiny and any necessary reforms. They are unwilling to acknowledge their mistakes and are determined to maintain their position, hoping to target Trump once again.
Why should Trump allow this to continue?
The briefing room, along with the office spaces behind it, is a government-funded area, and the chairs and cubicles belong to the White House, not the media. Since the 1980s, these spaces have been provided rent-free to the media. Given this, the White House has every right to reassess its use of this space.
In the past, when the press was more neutral, it made sense to allow the mainstream media to occupy these seats, as they were the primary conduits for information to the public. But in 2025, the mainstream media should no longer dominate this space.
It’s time for the Trump administration to allocate these seats to reporters from conservative outlets, independent media, podcasters, talk-radio personalities, and credible social media influencers—voices that better reflect the news consumption habits of today’s public and are less likely to serve as part of an activist press corps intent on undermining Trump.
While traditional media should still be present, they should no longer have such a commanding presence in defining the briefing room’s agenda. Unlike the compliant press that covered Biden’s administration, with the exception of Fox News, today’s media landscape will see reporters become even more adversarial toward Trump in a second term.
Briefings will be transformed into televised spectacles where reporters compete to show who can be the most confrontational toward Trump and his team—an approach that gained fame for many during his first term. There is no reason to allow this dynamic to dominate again.
The media’s role in America is evolving. Reporters now openly take sides, and it would be unwise for Trump to empower those who oppose him. While these media outlets will maintain their façade of neutrality, public opinion polls consistently show that the American people do not buy into this pretense.
It’s time to leave behind the 1980s model. The seating arrangements and the voices that drive the narrative should reflect the current era, one in which news is shaped by a broader, more diverse array of voices.
It’s time to stop pretending that the mainstream media is fair. They aren’t. If Trump is serious about changing Washington, he must challenge the status quo and unseat the old guard of the mainstream media.
