David Martosko, the US political editor of Mail Online, was the reporter who suggested to Donald Trump's incoming administration that members of the White House press corps be subject to random drug tests, a source familiar with the suggestion told BuzzFeed News.

The suggestion for twice-yearly drug tests was among 13 ideas an unnamed journalist wrote in a confidential memo to the transition team's executive committee last November as part of an application to become the president-elect's press secretary, the New York Post reported on Friday.



In his "Page Six" column, Richard Johnson declined to name the male reporter "because his proposal could harsh the mellow of his fellow journalists."

“Journalists who are at the White House more than one day per week should be subject to drug screenings to occur no more than twice a year at random times," the proposal stated, according to the Post. "Refusal to comply should exclude them from credentialing entirely."