An alarming proportion of US President Donald Trump's day is taken up with "executive time". Photo / AP
An alarming proportion of US President Donald Trump's day is taken up with "executive time". Photo / AP
He's the leader of one of the most powerful nations on the planet.
But a new insight into US President Donald Trump's daily routine has revealed the American leader enjoys a remarkably brief work day that most of us could only dream of.
Political news website Politico recently obtained a review of one week of Trump's private detailed schedules, dated from Monday, October 22 to Friday, October 26.
It showed an alarming proportion of the President's days were spent on "executive time" — a term coined by chief of staff John Kelly back in January to describe unstructured free time spent by Trump on social media, watching television or calling friends.
For example, last Tuesday the President had nine hours of executive time pencilled into his diary — compared with just three hours spent on typical presidential duties such as "official meetings, policy briefings and public appearances".
On that day, Trump attended an 11.30am meeting with Kelly — the first commitment of the day.
The 72-year-old spent a further 30 minutes on the phone with unnamed CEOs and speaking at a state leadership conference, and in the evening he received a briefing from senior military leaders before dining with them.
The rest of the day was devoted to executive time, with some free time allotted in huge 165-minute blocks.
While the former businessman and reality star had the most free time on Tuesday, according to Politico, that day was "hardly atypical".
The following day also began with an 11.30am meeting with Kelly, followed by a short speech on the opioid crisis and a media interview before departing for an evening rally held in Wisconsin.
The rest of that day was left open.
The bulk of US President Donald Trump's time is spent on unstructured free time. Photo / AP
During the entire week, less than two hours were taken up with policy briefings, and no official commitments began earlier than 11am.
His schedule was all the more surprising considering last week's mail bomb scare and the looming midterm elections.
More time was spent on the "performative aspects" of the job — such as speaking with reporters — than on real policymaking, with a large chunk devoted to travelling to and from rallies and campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of the midterms.
According to Politico, this latest schedule offers "fresh insight into the extent to which that unscheduled time dominates Trump's week and is shaping his presidency, allowing his whims and momentary interests to drive White House business".
It also reveals a stark contrast to the way previous presidents structured their days, with George W. Bush arriving in the Oval Office by 6.45am each day, and Barack Obama spending an average "six to seven hours a day" on policy meetings.
While the schedule did not reveal how Trump actually used last week's lengthy executive time, some White House officials claim he uses them productively on tasks such as calling fellow world leaders and US politicians and scheduling meetings, and that many official tasks are simply not mentioned in his official diary.
However, Politico also found "dozens" of the President's tweets were posted during his down time.
The latest schedule also echoes a previous one released by Axios back in January, which news.com.au described as being "characterised by late starts and long lunches".
It also had a large portion of each day dedicated to executive time, with Trump's work day beginning around 11am and ending at 6pm, with an hour kept free for lunch.
Mack McLarty, a former chief of staff for Bill Clinton, told Politico the way a president chose to spend their days was a reflection of their broader priorities.
"It reflects what he's trying to get done with the country," McLarty said
