Trump Floats Replacing White House Press Room with Swimming Pool

Former President Donald Trump has publicly mused about a significant alteration to the White House press facilities, suggesting the press pool could be replaced by a swimming pool.

Trump shared a composite image on his social media platform, Truth Social, juxtaposing the current White House Press Room with a rendering of a luxurious swimming pool. The image of the press room was labeled "Fake News," while the pool rendering was designated "FDR Pool," referencing former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The digitally altered image depicted a pool adorned with gold accents within the confines of the briefing room.

This suggestion follows a pattern where Trump has utilized artificial intelligence and digital manipulation to illustrate his ideas for renovations, both real and imagined, for the White House and Washington D.C. The former president has also previously expressed mistrust of mainstream media outlets.

Last Friday, Trump announced a ban on several news organizations, including CNN, MS Now, and Politico, from the White House, citing their reporting as "fake news." This decision reportedly came after his aide, Natalie Harp, presented him with negative coverage from these outlets. The affected organizations subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to regain access.

Despite a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly early Thursday morning, which mandated the restoration of credentials for Politico, CNN, and MS Now, reporters from CNN and MS Now were reportedly denied access later that day. CNN host Erin Burnett confirmed on air that her network's reporters were prevented from covering guest arrivals for a state dinner. MS Now senior producer Kyle Griffin also confirmed his network faced similar access denial.

In a show of solidarity with the banned outlets, major broadcasters such as Fox News, NBC, CBS, and ABC, who collectively form the TV pool responsible for covering presidential events, have reportedly refused to cover the President's events. Correspondents from the affected networks have resorted to broadcasting live shots from outside the White House grounds, as their usual broadcast locations on the premises are now vacant.

It remains unclear when the White House will officially reinstate the credentials for the barred news organizations. Meanwhile, media outlets supportive of Trump's political movement, such as Real America's Voice, have been filling the coverage void with their own streams.