Non-public Oval Office logs provided by the White House show President Trump working up to 12-hour days between Nov. 12 and Nov. 25, directly contradicting a New York Times article alleging “signs of fatigue” based on his limited public schedule, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
The internal records, shared with The Post, cover 10 weekdays and document roughly 50-hour workweeks, not including weekend duties or his widely known early-morning and late-night phone calls.
According to aides, the files provide a more complete record of his workload as he advances trade and immigration policy, attempts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, and oversees ongoing construction projects at the White House.
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, aides recorded 32 meetings and calls with lawmakers, subordinates, and private-sector executives.
The day began with a 10:30 a.m. staff meeting in the Roosevelt Room, followed by multiple calls with members of Congress, three calls to judicial nominees, and a call with an architect.
Vice President J.D. Vance and Staff Secretary Will Scharf were among those who met with the president.
Trump ended the day with a 7:45 p.m. dinner with Wall Street CEOs, an after-10 p.m. bill-signing event to reopen the government after the 43-day shutdown, and a 10:40 p.m. meeting with a corporate executive.
On Thursday, Nov. 13, the logs show Trump conducting 17 meetings and calls over eight and a half hours, beginning with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Counsel David Warrington at 10:39 a.m.
He then met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio before receiving his intelligence briefing.
Records show a speechwriter “pre-brief,” an executive order signing with first lady Melania Trump, a media interview, a discussion with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and a 6 p.m. tele-rally for Tennessee congressional candidate Mike Van Epps.
On Nov. 14, Trump began his Friday schedule at 8:21 a.m. with four calls to foreign leaders regarding tensions between Cambodia and Thailand.
He held 18 additional meetings and calls, granted another media interview, and spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One for 26 minutes before departing for Mar-a-Lago for the weekend.
Some names in the logs are redacted, but the events match publicly known activity.
The Times published its article on Nov. 25 under the headline “Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office,” relying on the president’s publicly released schedule rather than the fuller internal logs. It claimed Trump “regularly comes down to the Oval Office after 11 a.m.” and noted his scheduled events begin later in the day compared with 2017.
The president objected strongly, singling out Times White House reporter Katie Rogers as “ugly, both inside and out.”
The White House also pushed back on the suggestion that Trump is slowing down. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The New York Times cobbled together half-baked data to push a narrative that President Trump, who is clearly sharp as a tack, is somehow unfit to be president, after they covered for Joe Biden’s clear cognitive decline.”
She added, “The truth is President Trump never stops working, and his private schedule, Truth Social posts, and around-the-clock engagement on every issue proves just that.”
Wiles added, “I cannot imagine anybody with more dedication and focus, and work ethic than Donald Trump. At least in my life and career, I’ve seen nothing like it, and it seems to accelerate as we go through the term.”
A Times spokesperson responded last week, saying, “The Times’s reporting is accurate and built on firsthand reporting of the facts. Name-calling and personal insults don’t change that.”
The Times also noted that Trump is taking fewer domestic trips than at this point in 2017 but more foreign trips.
Between Oct. 25 and Oct. 30, Trump traveled to Qatar, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea.
He danced with performers on the tarmac after a 23-hour flight to Malaysia, then met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea before returning to Washington to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.
Wiles said:
“As for Asia, he doesn’t sleep… or he sleeps minimally. The rest of us actually need some sleep,” adding that staff take shifts because “nobody could possibly keep up with him.”
She also said the bed aboard Air Force One “has ever been used.”