On Sunday, Axios published an article detailing President Donald Trump‘s “executive time”, which is essentially unspecified or unstructured time and comprises over half his personal schedule. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded to Axios that the time is for a “creative environment” in which he can be “the most productive President in modern history.”
Trump being the “most” something is the most rote superlative the White House offers, and they do so often, but it doesn’t quantify anything. Neither, for that matter, does the term “creative environment.” But they could clarify, as Josh Gerstein of Politico noted on Monday, by simply releasing more details.
Gerstein was responding on Twitter to a Tweeted reaction from Director of Oval Office Operations Madeleine Westerhout, formerly the President’s personal secretary, who was outraged that schedule information was leaked to Axios for their story.
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
It was to that outrage that Gerstein responded.
White House is entirely free to publish details of those 'hundreds of calls and meetings' Trump is said to take daily. In fact, if they were on the record, a story like the Axios one wouldn't have much sting https://t.co/seaUvXFKwi
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 4, 2019
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times also weighed in, postulating the calculus used by the White House.
White House has decided that some bad press – very light schedule! – is better than keeping accessible records of his meetings. https://t.co/lWsQycZ7aL
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 4, 2019
A reasonable assumption. It was Haberman who on Sunday also noted, however, the serious breach of trust about which Westerhout tweeted, above.
A White House aide is weaponizing his schedules, which says a lot about how people in the White House feel about the man they work for https://t.co/76K7XCzwPD
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 3, 2019
Three months of the President’s schedule details were leaked to Axios for their article. A fairly major leak.
The info shows that approximately 60 percent of his time, in a span that goes back basically to the midterms, was dedicated to the “executive time” that is used for a creative environment.
In the Axios article they quote an unnamed senior White House official who says that the president is “always calling people, talking to people” during a typical day, and that “he’s always up to something; it’s just not what you would consider typical structure.”
The White House also does not release the details of phone calls between Trump and other foreign leaders, something that has been a separate political controversy more than once. Some of those phone call transcripts, like the daily schedule, were also leaked last year.
It is not unusual for an administration to release only a public schedule and not a President’s full daily personal schedule, although both Trump’s public and leaked personal schedules seem to show fewer appointments, meetings, and structured time than those of other recent chief executives. Not to mention that he is under more media scrutiny than those past presidents, and has a major problem with leaks.
[Featured image via screengrab]
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