Trump calls rumor of pool restoration after demolition of White House press room 'fake news'

On the 24th (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed as "fake news" media reports that he was planning to destroy the White House press room and restore an indoor swimming pool in its place.

President Trump wrote on the social media platform TruthSocial on this day, "There are fake news reports coming out that I will destroy the White House press room and restore the old swimming pool right underneath it."

He continued, "We can move the fake news (media) to a less intrusive place, but the old swimming pool will never be restored," and added, "I have never even thought of doing such a foolish thing."

This can be interpreted as a statement denying reports that the White House press room is being restored to a swimming pool, but leaving open the possibility of moving the press room to another location.

Previously, the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 20th that President Trump had been considering removing the White House press corps from the briefing room and restoring the swimming pool in its place.

According to the NYT, sources said that President Trump ordered then-White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt to remove the press corps from the briefing room in late August.

President Trump reportedly said this would be Levitt's "final legacy." However, until Spokesperson Levitt resigned from his position as Spokesperson on August 27, the actual sending of reporters out of the White House did not take place.

President Trump is also reported to have told his staff that he would like to restore the indoor swimming pool that former President Franklin Roosevelt installed in 1933 to treat the aftereffects of polio. This swimming pool was covered and converted into a space for the media during the Richard Nixon administration in 1970.

On the 27th of last month, President Trump also posted an image on Truth Social comparing the current briefing room and how this space has been transformed into a golden swimming pool.

The NYT reported that President Trump has been considering relocating the press room since his first term in office, and recently, the number of aides supporting the move has been increasing. The Eisenhower Administration Building within the White House complex is being mentioned as the location for the press room relocation.

The NYT pointed out that the press operation close to the center of executive power is a long-standing practice that recognizes the importance of press freedom in a democracy, so the relocation of the press corps has great symbolic meaning and will be a difficult decision for a successor president to reverse.