President Donald Trump appeared to take a swipe at the White House press corps on Sunday, sharing a mock-up on Truth Social that showed the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room transformed into former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s historic indoor swimming pool.
The late-night post featured side-by-side images. On one side was the existing briefing room, branded “Fake News, Before.” On the other was an ornate rendering of a restored indoor pool, labeled “FDR Pool After.”
The contrast between the two images was stark: the press room as it stands today on one side, a dramatic makeover on the other.
It was not immediately clear whether the president was announcing an actual renovation plan or simply taunting the reporters who cover him.
The post comes a week after a fiery confrontation between Trump and the press. That clash erupted after the president moved to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from access to the White House press corps.
The three news organizations fired back in court. They sued, arguing the restrictions violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights.
A federal judge eventually restored their access.
The fallout reached beyond those three outlets. Major TV networks had also suspended their participation in the White House video pool after CNN was excluded from the rotation.
Now, the president’s latest post is shining a spotlight on a piece of White House history with a direct connection to the press corps.
Roosevelt had the indoor swimming pool constructed in the West Terrace in 1933 following his polio diagnosis. He used swimming as a form of exercise.
The pool remained a fixture for presidents who came after him. Former Presidents Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson also regularly used it.
That changed under former President Richard Nixon.
In 1970, Nixon had flooring installed over the pool to create space for the expanding White House press corps. In other words, the pool was covered up to make room for the very reporters Trump’s post appears to be targeting.
But the pool itself was not destroyed. It was preserved beneath the floor so that it could potentially be restored in the future, which is the scenario Trump’s “FDR Pool After” image depicts.
The White House is not without a place to swim in the meantime. It still has another swimming pool outdoors, installed by former President Gerald Ford on the South Grounds in 1975.
For now, the question hanging over the mock-up is a simple one: Is it a blueprint for a real renovation, or a jab at a press corps the president has recently tangled with?
Either way, the post puts a decades-old piece of White House history back in the conversation, and puts the briefing room itself squarely at the center of the president’s ongoing feud with the media.
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