Coronavirus puts new use to White House press briefing room

The outbreak of the coronavirus has breathed new life into the White House briefing room.

When President Trump stepped into the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room last Wednesday, it was only his second appearance behind the podium in a room that has been neglected during the Trump administration when compared to those past.

Trump fielded questions from an energized room packed with reporters on his administration’s response to the coronavirus — his first time ever taking questions in the briefing room since moving into the White House in 2017.

Three days later — on a Saturday — he did it again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll be doing this quite often. We’re going to keep you abreast of all of the facts,” Trump told reporters on Saturday afternoon after concluding the nearly hour-long briefing.

Vice President Pence is set to host another briefing from the podium on Monday afternoon.

The sudden burst of appearances from top administration officials has been a welcome sight for reporters after press briefings were largely abandoned last year in favor of appearances on Fox News and impromptu gaggles on the White House driveway.

The briefings are part of an effort by the president and his top officials to ease growing concerns about the spread of the virus domestically while assuring the public of the administration’s response.

The added effect has been somewhat of a transformation for the press briefing room, which is more often used these days for equipment storage, stand-up television appearances and as a workspace for reporters who do not have a permanent work desk at the White House.

During the cold winter months, it sometimes witnesses impromptu gaggles with White House officials following TV interviews that are otherwise conducted on the White House driveway.  

On Monday afternoon, Pence and Ambassador-at-Large Deborah Birx, the medical expert tasked with coordinating the administration’s response to the virus, will update reporters, marking the third formal briefing on the subject in less than a week. Trump will be traveling to a campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., meaning he will not be in attendance.

In a nod to the uptick in usage, the White House Correspondents’ Association sent an email to correspondents on Monday asking reporters to clean up gear, step ladders and other equipment being stored in the briefing room.

Still, this hasn’t constituted a revival of the regular White House briefing, which dwindled to a stop under Trump.

Press briefings became increasingly rare under Trump’s second press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and her successor, Stephanie Grisham, has not yet briefed the press from the podium since assuming the position in June.

White House officials have often pointed to the president’s frequent gaggles with reporters when explaining the decision to curb briefings.

“The president is his own best spokesperson. He goes out. He’s the most accessible president in history,” Grisham told Fox Business in September. “The briefings, to me, became a lot of theater, and it became a way for a certain reporter to just get more face time or book deals or contributor contracts. And I don’t feel the need to help them do that.”  

On occasion, the briefing room has been used in recent months by Cabinet officials to hold briefings on specific topics; acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, for example, has been a guest at the podium on various occasions to discuss the monthly border apprehension numbers.

Before Trump and top administration officials briefed the press on Wednesday, the last time the space was used in a formal capacity was for a Feb. 10 off-camera briefing with acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought regarding the administration’s budget request.  

Brett Samuels contributed.