Trump Wants a Pool in the Briefing Room That Used to Be a Pool
The Times reports Trump has repeatedly pushed the idea, which would restore the space to its original use.
The Headlines · America’s Utility Bill Crisis, and Trump’s Approval Rating Hits a New LowThe room familiar from televised White House briefings now holds reporters, but the space was built as an indoor swimming pool that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had added in 1933.
President Trump has repeatedly pushed for a swimming pool in the briefing room. The change would evict reporters from the building. He has floated the idea for years, but it has surfaced again and again in recent months, with more people around him favoring a move for the press to another building nearby.
Roosevelt needed the original pool to treat his legs, weakened by polio, a disease that can weaken or paralyze muscles. The room was a pool first.
Questions people ask
Where would the press go?
Across the street to another building in the White House complex.
What has the administration done to the press?
The administration has taken an increasingly hostile stance toward the media, issuing subpoenas to journalists and blocking some news outlets from the White House.