Donald Trump has hit back at his critics after an embarrassing leak of his private schedule revealed how little work he does at the White House. According to the leaked schedule, which covers almost every working day since the midterms on November 6, Trump spends about 60 per cent of his day in ‘executive time’, according to Axios. It accounts for time spent away from the Oval Office, and overall showed Trump has spent about 297 hours in executive time in the past three months – compared with only 77 hours spent in meetings.
The President hit back against the leak on Twitter where he explained what ‘executive time’ actually means after accusations he enjoyed a lot of free time. The term was coined by former chief of staff John Kelly for unstructured time in Trump’s day.
That time often coincides with when Mr Trump is on Twitter. ‘I probably work more hours than almost any past president,’ Trump tweeted. He said ‘it should have been reported as a positive, not a negative’ and added that when the term ‘executive time’ appears on his schedule, it means he is ‘generally working, not relaxing’.
The president’s work ethic has been a topic of Washington conversation after Axios obtained the three months of his private schedules. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said the leaker’s identity should be known this week.