Amid feud with media, Trump is reportedly mulling turning the White House press room into an indoor swimming pool

President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of reverting the White House press briefing room to its original state as a swimming pool, according to a report by The New York Times. Trump had floated the idea to his former press secretary Karoline Leavitt, telling her to remove reporters from the James S Brady Press Briefing Room, the NYT report said. Trump reportedly voiced the idea to Leavitt several times over months, but she did not act on it before her departure. Leavitt stepped down as White House press secretary on August 27.

A brief history of the press room

Trump has also pitched his idea to a number of his aides The press room was originally an indoor swimming pool built in 1939 by then president Franklin D Roosevelt to be used for therapy for his legs affected by polio. Later, President Richard Nixon built a press briefing room over the pool along with an attached office for reporters.

Trump's relationship with media

Trump has long had a sour relationship with the news media. The idea to remove reporters from the White House originated during Trump’s first term as president (2016-2020), but his inner circle had either moved him away from the proposal or waited for him to move on, according to the NYT report.

However, with Trump's shrinking inner circle and his relationship with the media going further south, the idea is closer to implementation than ever before. If approved, the plan is likely to be viewed by critics as the Trump administration's latest and one of the most symbolic attacks on free press.

Last month, Trump had shared an image on the Truth Social platform, showing the press room in its current state with the caption "Fake News", alongside another which showed the space reimagined as a gilded swimming pool.

Trump's ban on media outlets

The report comes at a time when Trump is involved in a legal feud with the media outlets CNN, MS Now, and Politico, over his banning them from the White House grounds in September. The president said at the time the ban was due to the outlets reporting what he called fake news.

The media outlets subsequently filed a lawsuit, and a US district judge, who has been appointed by Trump during his first term, passed an order lifting the ban and allowing the media houses access to the White House grounds. The Trump administration has appealed that ruling.