Busting my butt
Don defends 60% ‘unstructured’ workday
He’s always up to something; it’s just not what you would consider typical structure. WHITE HOUSE SOURCE
In addition to having all the best words, knowing more about ISIS than his generals and more about technology that “anyone,” President Trump figures he “probably” works more than any other President.
The commander-in-chief, a noted TV enthusiast, spent part of his Sunday tweeting about an Axios report last week stating he spends nearly 60% of his workday on unstructured, unaccounted for “executive time.”
“The media was able to get my work schedule, something very easy to do, but it should have been reported as a positive, not negative,” the President tweeted Sunday afternoon. “When the term Executive Time is used, I am generally working, not relaxing. In fact, I probably work more hours than almost any past President.”
The report indicated Trump logged just under 502 hours of work during the three months Axios reviewed. More than 298 of those hours were dedicated to “Executive time,” which ate up most of his schedule. The President reportedly spent 77 hours in meetings, which finished a distant second in time-fillers. Trump spent 39 hours eating lunch.
The report cites six sources claiming the President wakes at 6 a.m., but says his time is generally not accounted for prior to 11 a.m.
Trump watches an average of four hours of TV a day and sometimes twice that much, according to a New York Times report from December 2017. He’s a known fan and frequent guest of “Fox & Friends,” which airs weekdays at 6 a.m.
The President argued at the time he spends more time “reading documents” than watching TV, despite the 60-inch flat screen he had installed in his dining room, according to Time magazine.
A site called Trumpgolf.com estimates the President has fit 165 golf outings into his schedule since taking office in January 2017.
“He’s always up to something; it’s just not what you would consider typical structure,” a White House source reportedly told Axios. Former White House chief of staff John Kelly is credited with designating the President’s unstructured hours as “executive time.”
Politico reported Friday that White House officials were busily searching for the source that leaked the President’s “easy to obtain” schedule.