Trump apparently works way fewer hours than the rest of us
The vast majority of us in the working world are more than familiar with the 9-to-5 grind. And we imagine that people with especially high-powered careers work even longer hours. But apparently, President Donald Trump works shorter hours than most of us, starting work later so he can watch TV and tweet.
According to a January 7th report by Axios, the length of Trump’s work day has decreased since he took office in January 2017. The president reportedly arrives at the Oval Office at 11 a.m. and returns to his private quarters around 6 p.m. President George W. Bush reportedly started work before 7 a.m., and President Barack Obama arrived at the Oval Office between 9 and 10 a.m.
Before work, Trump is allotted three hours of “Executive Time,” where he watches TV and tweets in his residence. During the hours he is in the Oval Office, Trump continues to take more breaks for “Executive Time,” again to watch cable news and call friends. In total, Trump spends about five and a half hours each day involved in “Executive Time.”
Trump is starting his official day much later than he did in the early days, often around 11am, and holding far fewer meetings, per Axios.
This is largely to meet Trump’s demands for more “Executive Time,” which apparently means TV and Twitter time. https://t.co/ypbWfzwiaC
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 7, 2018
But Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied that Trump spends his time watching TV and tweeting, saying that “Executive Time” actually involves a list of important presidential duties.
"The time in the morning is a mix of residence time and Oval Office time but he always has calls with staff, Hill members, Cabinet members, and foreign leaders during this time," she wrote in her response to Axios.
On top of the new revelation about Trump’s daily schedule, NBC reported at the end of December that Trump made 90 trips to golf courses in his first year as president. So in addition to working fewer hours than most, the Commander-in-Chief has also taken more than his fair share of vacations.
Given previous reports that Trump’s daily routine involves chugging Diet Coke and watching as many as eight hours of TV, we’re kind of wondering how the president gets anything done. There is one good thing to come out of Trump’s leaked schedule, though. Now, whenever we get caught browsing Twitter at work, we can just say we were using “Executive Time.”
