White House 'Situation Room' Has Been Upgraded

The redesigned John F. Kennedy Conference room at the core of the Situation Room features wood paneling and improved monitors to access intelligence information. Courtesy of the White House.  

PBS: Inside the White House Situation Room’s $50 million upgrade 

The most secure location in the White House, and maybe the world, just got a full makeover. 

In 1961, after the Bay of Pigs invasion, President John F. Kennedy requested a secure facility to feed intelligence information directly into the White House. That room was up and running a year later when Kennedy huddled with advisors, gathering as much information as possible as a surprise battery of Soviet missiles were placed in Cuba. 

In 2003, it’s where George W. Bush gave the fateful order to begin the Iraq War. And in 2011, Barack Obama sat transfixed, surrounded by Cabinet officials and military commanders, watching in real time as Navy Seals executed a risky and dangerous secret plan to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.  

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WNU Editor: The "old room" will be moved to former President Obama's Presidential Library .... Room where Obama watched Bin Laden raid will be moved to his library (Insider). 

 White House 'Situation Room' Has Been Upgraded  

What $50 Million Can Buy: Inside the Sleek New White House Situation Room -- DNYUZ/New York Times 

White House completes $50 million upgrade to famed 'Situation Room' complex -- Reuters  

White House completes $50 million revamp of high-security Situation Room -- CNN  

White House unveils renovated Situation Room -- The Hill

A Look At Who's Who In President Trump's Syria 'Situation Room'

WH photo (ed for security): @potus receives briefing on #syria military strike fr Nat Security team, inc @vp , SECDEF, CJCS via secure VTC pic.twitter.com/aaCnR7xomR

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) April 7, 2017

New York Times: Who Was in the Room? These Advisers Joined Trump for the Syria Strike

WASHINGTON — In any major crisis involving speed, judgment and getting reliable information, the first question any president needs to decide is this: Who is invited to the meeting to discuss the strategic options?

So the photograph of President Trump’s group of advisers at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night — released by the White House and edited “for security” in the words of Sean Spicer, the press secretary — was immediately scrutinized for what it said about who has the commander in chief’s ear at a critical moment. And of course, what you see may depend on what you are looking for. Or, in this case, whom.

Does Stephen K. Bannon’s position on the outer ring reflect his recent removal from the principals committee of the National Security Council, or does his presence, and that of the adviser Stephen Miller, suggest a change in title but not in influence? What about the presence of the only woman visible in the room, Dina Powell, a former aide to President George W. Bush and a longtime friend of Ivanka Trump who was recently brought on as a deputy national security adviser? And why would the commerce and Treasury secretaries be involved in a Tomahawk strike? (Answer: Because they were at the resort to meet Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.)

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More News On Who's Who In President Trump's Syria 'Situation Room'

What this photo of Trump's war room tells us -- CNN
Who's who in Trump's Syria 'Situation Room'? -- SKY News
Trump's Mar-A-Lago Situation Room Photo: Who Are In It And What Does It Signify? -- International Business Times

Inside The Mar-A-Lago Situation Room

President Donald Trump is shown in an official White House handout image meeting with his National Security team and being briefed by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford via secure video teleconference after a missile strike on Syria while inside the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. April 6, 2017. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated that this image has been digitally edited for security purposes when he released the photo via Twitter on April 7, 2017. The White House/Handout via REUTERS

USA Today: White House photo reveals inside view of Mar-a-Lago situation room

PALM BEACH, Fla. — We've seen this photo before.

The president of the United States huddles in a cramped room with top national security officials, intensely focused on what's happening on a television monitor off frame as they wait for the outcome of momentous events half a world away.

Instead of President Obama, it's President Trump. Instead of the White House situation room, it's a secure conference room at Mar-a-Lago. And instead of the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, it's the Thursday night missile strike on the Syrian regime.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer tweeted out the photo Friday, giving the first insider's view into Trump's demeanor as the U.S. carried out the Tomahawk missile strikes. Spicer said the photo was taken at about 9:15 p.m. Thursday night, after Trump's dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping but before he announced the air strikes in remarks from Mar-a-Lago.

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WNU Editor: It looks cramped.

A Look At the Situation Room Up Close

Situation Room Up Close -- Xenophilius

Just below the Oval Office, in the basement of the West Wing, is the White House Situation Room. It’s one of the most secure conference rooms in the world, used for national security strategy sessions and the president’s classified briefings. Only a few people ever get to see the room in action. But the now-iconic series of photographs of President Obama watching the raid on Osama bin Laden’s secret hideaway in Pakistan offers a rare look inside the highly secure complex. A tour through the Sit Room’s most intriguing items:

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My Comment: I stumbled across this post by accident. Some interesting intel here.

White House Situation Room Turns 50

U.S. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Reuters/White House/Pete Souza/Handout

White House Situation Room, 'Nerve Center' Of bin Laden Raid, RTurns 50 -- Christian Science Monitor

The White House situation room is now associated with one of President Obama's successes, but it owes its existence to JFK's great blunder.

The picture is already an icon: President Obama and his national security team, gathered around a conference table, rapt as they look at an update of the Osama bin Laden raid as it occurs.

But here’s a fun fact about that photo – the room where that team is sitting, the situation room, had an anniversary almost the same day that photo was shot. The famed White House command center is 50 years old Friday.

President Obama marked the anniversary by speaking to situation room staff.

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President Obama and Cabinent members watch as former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak delivers a televised statement, during a meeting in the Situation Room of the White House, Feb. 1, 2011. (Photo from CNN)

More News On The White House Situation Room

Obama White House celebrates 50 years of the Situation Room being there -- L.A. Times
Obama holds 50th birthday party for the White House Situation Room -- Washington Post/AP
Obama celebrates birthday of White House Situation Room -- USA Today
Kennedy aides pressed for Situation Room after 1961 Bay of Pigs -- Boston.com
The Situation Room turns 50 -- CNN
Secret Celebration: The Situation Room Turns 50 -- Wall Street Journal
Happy 50th Birthday to the White House Situation Room -- FOX News
Obama commemorates White House Situation Room's 50th anniversary -- The Hill