President Donald Trump on Sunday ranted about a recent Axios report that found he’s spent more than half of his working hours in unstructured “executive time” since the November midterm elections.
The president claimed that he usually isn’t relaxing during “executive time,” which Axios described as a catchall time for watching television, making phone calls to advisers and friends and reading the news.
“When the term Executive Time is used, I am generally working, not relaxing,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “In fact, I probably work more hours than almost any past President.”
“The fact is, when I took over as President, our Country was a mess,” he continued. “I had no choice but to work very long hours!”
The documents obtained by Axios reveal that the president has spent some 300 hours ― 60 percent of his working hours ― in executive time. On some days, Trump spent nearly the entire working day in executive time, Axios reported.
Trump commented Sunday that it should have been “very easy” for the media to get hold of his work schedule. Politico reported Friday that his administration has begun searching for the staffer who leaked it to Axios.
Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday” that he expects to know the identify of the person responsible for leaking the schedule as early as the end of this week.
“When we find that person or persons, and it’s likely to be a career staffer, you’re going to learn a lot about how hard it is to fire federal workers,” Mulvaney said.
Asked if that meant the White House wouldn’t be able to fire the leaker, Mulvaney responded that it’s “nearly impossible” to fire a federal worker.
This story has been updated with Mick Mulvaney’s comments.