Leaked schedules show Trump has spent more than half of last 3 months in ‘Executive Time’: Axios

President Trump has spent about 60 percent of his time over the past three months in “Executive Time,” according to leaked schedules obtained by Axios.

A source told Axios that Trump typically spends the first five hours of his day in his residency. There he is understood to be watching television, reading newspapers and making phone calls to aides, lawmakers, friends, advisers and administration officials.

{mosads}”He’s always calling people, talking to people,” a senior White House official told Axios. “He’s always up to something; it’s just not what you would consider typical structure.”

Trump’s first meeting of the day typically doesn’t come until 11 or 11:30 a.m. and is typically an intelligence briefing or a half-hour meeting with his chief of staff, a schedule Axios also reported last year.

Trump has been criticized for his use of “Executive Time” in the past, including by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

Axios reported that “Executive Time” is particularly dominant on some days. The report notes that on Jan. 18, he had one hour of scheduled meetings and seven hours of “Executive Time.”

Chris Whipple, who studies presidential schedules, told Axios “there’s almost no [historical] parallel” for how Trump spends most of his days.

“The most important asset in any presidency is the president’s time,” Whipple added. “And Trump is a guy who gives new meaning to the notion of an unstructured presidency.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Axios that Trump “has a different leadership style than his predecessors and the results speak for themselves.”

“While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history,” she added.

A White House aide later responded to the Axios story on Twitter, calling the leak “a disgraceful breach of trust” and arguing that the schedules do not accurately reflect Trump’s daily workload. 

What a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these don’t show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday. This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history. https://t.co/n1HrxmCsiB

— Madeleine Westerhout (@madwest45) February 3, 2019