Trump isn't your regular POTUS. Why judge him so?

Several of his detractors maintain that he's un-presidential and unsophisticated... but let's just agree that he's unconventional.

By Vicky Kapur (From the Executive Editor's desk)

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Tue 5 Feb 2019, 7:00 PM

Last updated: Wed 6 Feb 2019, 3:14 PM

US President Donald Trump spends a lot of his working hours in what has been billed as 'executive time' in official documents leaked by Axios. Executive time is hyperbole for twiddling your thumbs and goofing off, a section of the press would want their audience to believe. We'd like to think it also includes making phone calls to officials and like-minded bureaucrats, administrators and even leaders of foreign countries. It may also include a round of golf and some social media indulgence. 
The leaked 95-page report reveals that, in the three-month period between November 2018 and February 2019, Trump spent almost four times the amount of time (297 hours) as 'executive time' compared to 77 hours of scheduled meetings, 51 hours in travel, and 39 hours in lunch. "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," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told off Axios after it published the report.
Interestingly, on a typical day, the US President spends three hours of 'executive time' before his 30-minute tête-à-tête with the (acting) Chief of Staff, an hour of 'executive time' after that (before a one-hour lunch break) and then at least a couple of hours of 'executive time' punctuated by some travel and/or official meetings and events. Madeleine Westerhout, who has just been promoted as Director of Oval Office Operations, called the leak "a disgraceful breach of trust". She defended Trump by saying: "What these don't show are the hundreds of calls and meetings @realDonaldTrump takes everyday (sic!). This POTUS is working harder for the American people than anyone in recent history."
To be fair, Trump isn't your typical POTUS. He doesn't conform to any of the moulds that the 46 presidents before him were cast in, and it's likely that his successors, too, will be quite different from him. He behaves a little differently from what we have come to expect of US presidents. Before he was elected, he swore at campaign rallies and, as Access Hollywood tapes suggested, didn't think too highly of women. After his election, too, he has remained different in aptitude and approach, openly hurling insults at leaders of other countries (he once called North Korea's Kim Jong-un short and fat) and calling legendary entertainers like Meryl Streep "overrated". 
Most Americans must have known that they were voting a non-conformist president to power. Several of his detractors maintain that he's unsophisticated, even un-presidential... but let's just agree that he's unconventional. Why, then, do we insist on measuring him by the same yardstick that was used to measure his predecessors? From Day 1, Trump has functioned in his own inimitable style; so it's logical that he will follow his own schedule. Instead of goofing off, he could be golfing with the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. And is it really twiddling your thumbs if you're setting and announcing US policy - on matters as serious as Syria and Iran - on Twitter? We also know what happens when he's not enjoying his 'executive time'. He's probably planning how to raise funding for the wall, or how to extend the longest shutdown in US government history. In contrast, Trump's 'executive time' should be seen as a blessing, then. 


More news from