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WASHINGTON — It would be a different kind of press pool.
President Trump taunted the press Sunday by suggesting he might convert the White House’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room back to an indoor swimming pool, as it originally was under former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, amid his feud with the media.
The president posted before-and-after images on Truth Social depicting the White House press briefing room getting transformed into a gold-adorned swimming pool.
His post comes against the backdrop of his push to ban reporters from CNN, MS Now and Politico from entering the White House grounds.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly on Thursday ordered the White House to restore access for those three outlets for at least the next two weeks as litigation plays out.
Trump’s move led to the five major TV news outlets in the White House pool — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC, which take turns getting expanded access — at least temporarily ceasing their participation in response, leading to snarls with capturing video of Trump earlier last week.
Roosevelt had the indoor pool built in 1933 as he battled polio. Several of his successors — Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson — are known to have used it frequently.
Former President Richard Nixon then had flooring put over the pool to set up a briefing room, which was eventually renamed after James Brady, a former White House press secretary under Ronald Reagan who was severely wounded during John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt of the president.
The pool structure under the briefing room still exists. The White House has an outdoor swimming pool that former President Gerald Ford built.
Trump has been on a renovation spree during his second term, remodeling such areas as the Palm Room, colonnade and North Portico. The president has long touted his vaunted $400 million glitzy ballroom project and recently unveiled a new granite helipad on the South Lawn.
The billionaire real-estate mogul has also eyed projects in DC, restoring fountains, covering statues near the Lincoln Memorial in 23K gold and renovating the Reflecting Pool.
But one project he’s shown no interest in is the idea of fixing up the White House press briefing room.
“I don’t want to do that,” Trump said when asked by a reporter last year about rennovating the briefing room.
“I don’t want you to be comfortable,” he quipped. “No, I don’t want to make life comfortable.”
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