President Donald Trump has been weighing the possibility of returning the White House press briefing room to its original state as a swimming pool, according to a new report.
The president had floated the idea to his former press secretary Karoline Leavitt before her departure in August by telling her to remove reporters from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, according to the New York Times.
According to the outlet, Trump brought his idea to Leavitt several times, but she did not move on the matter before leaving her post. The president has since pitched his idea to several aides and has even referenced a renovation in a Truth Social post as recent as last month.
The room was originally a swimming pool built by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to be used for therapy for his legs affected by polio. Richard Nixon then built the briefing room over the pool with an attached office for journalists.
Trump has long had an unsavory relationship with the media, but removing the room where reporters assigned to the White House work and are briefed would be a decision future presidents could struggle to reverse. Renovating the building long seen as the focal point where reporters face the administration would likely be viewed by critics as an attack on the free press, as it would remove journalists’ proximity to the West Wing.
The idea originated during Trump’s first term, but his inner circle had either moved him away from the idea or waited for him to move on, according to the New York Times. But with Trump’s shrinking inner circle and his frustration with the media growing, removing the room could come to fruition.
JUDGE EXTENDS MS NOW, CNN, AND POLITICO’S WHITE HOUSE ACCESS INDEFINITELY
Trump’s reported plans come as he is in a legal dispute with CNN, MS Now, and Politico over his banning the outlets from the White House grounds. The president said the ban was due to the outlets reporting “fake news.”
The outlets subsequently sued, and U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted a temporary restraining order lifting the ban and has since issued an indefinite preliminary injunction to allow the outlets access to the grounds.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
