U.S. President Donald Trump is once again pushing the idea of evicting members of the press from the White House building, according to The New York Times. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the American publication. According to the NYT, in late August during one of his last meetings with then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in the Oval Office, Trump suggested in the presence of several senior officials that she remove journalists from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, which would effectively mean removing news organizations from the White House. According to him, this would be her “final legacy” as press secretary.
The Oval Office Conversation and Leavitt's Departure
As the NYT notes, citing three sources, this proposal never gained traction during Leavitt's time at the White House: Trump approached her with this request multiple times over several months, but it was never implemented. On August 27, Karoline Leavitt left the White House due to the birth of a child, and the initiative was effectively left without an executor. The publication emphasizes that the question of relocating the media from the White House may seem relatively minor, but against the backdrop of Trump's ongoing attacks on journalists, it takes on a pronounced symbolic character.
FDR's Pool as an Argument
Trump told his aides that he would like to restore the indoor pool that President Franklin Roosevelt built in 1933 as a therapeutic treatment for his legs, which were affected by polio. Later, as is well known, Richard Nixon covered this pool to make room for the press. On September 27, Trump posted a couple of images on social media showing the briefing room as it currently appears with the caption “Fake News,” as well as another image representing the same space as a gilded pool with the caption “FDR Pool.”
Constitutional Context and Reversibility of the Decision
The NYT points out that the proximity of the media to the U.S. executive branch has long been an acknowledgment of the importance of a free press in a constitutional democracy. That is why, according to the publication, evicting journalists from the White House would be a decision that future presidents would find difficult to reverse. The publication also notes that Trump raised the idea of evicting the media during his first term, and a growing number of people in his inner circle support this initiative.
Restricting Access and Litigation
As a reminder, in September the U.S. President announced he was restricting the access of CNN, MSNBC, and Politico to the White House, explaining the decision by the spread of “fake news.” The Trump administration soon lost the corresponding court case, but information recently appeared in the media that the president intends to reinstate the ban. Several people from Trump's inner circle, according to the NYT, believe that moving the media, most likely to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street, could be the final stage in a series of large-scale attacks on the press, which, in their estimation, have already gone further than most of them expected.
