President Donald Trump is pressing harder on a White House makeover he's pitched for years as the aides who resisted it thin out.
Trump has repeatedly told aides he wants reporters moved out of the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room so he can bring back the indoor swimming pool Franklin D. Roosevelt installed in 1933, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
In one of former press secretary Karoline Leavitt's last Oval Office meetings with Trump in late August, the president urged her in front of senior aides to relocate the press corps, telling her it would be her "last legacy," according to The Times. Three people familiar with the talks said Trump made the request of her several times over a span of months, but the idea went nowhere before she stepped down Aug. 27.
As recently as Sept. 27, Trump posted a pair of images to Truth Social about the press briefing room. One showed the current briefing room labeled "Fake News." The other reimagined the space as a gold-trimmed pool labeled "FDR Pool."
Roosevelt's pool, built to help ease the effects of polio on his legs, was covered over under President Richard Nixon to make space for the media. The most likely new home for reporters is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street, according to The Times.
The Times reported that the difference now is who surrounds the president. In earlier rounds of discussion, most senior advisers argued that keeping reporters close benefited Trump. But his core team has shrunk, his fury at his coverage has deepened and a rising set of advisers has urged him to punish journalists.
Among them is Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who two people familiar with the discussions said produced a foam board mock-up of the briefing room converted back into an in-ground pool. Pulte, who holds no formal White House role, frequently joins Trump at his golf clubs on weekends, when the president's staff is thin. Senior officials told The Times that Pulte also brings foam boards spotlighting possible targets for revenge prosecutions. He did not respond to The Times' requests for comment.
White House communications director Steven Cheung left the door open. "All options remain on the table, and we will make an announcement when appropriate," he said.