Day 740: Shirking work, Trump watches TV and give tours of the White House all day

Historically, presidents have had a near-impossible time balancing their days. Between short-term and long-term crises, dealing with foreign leaders, meetings with aides, getting briefings, coordinating with Congress and much more, being efficient with every minute of time is crucial.

Except for Donald Trump, apparently.

The following is the entirety of Trump’s public schedule for the past two days:

• Monday, January 28: Lunch with Mike Pence
• Tuesday, January 29: Nothing

Of course, some agenda items and private events are not listed on the public calendar, but most things are generally listed.

Trump’s Monday evening was occupied by a visit to his own hotel — from which he managed to profit — hosted by Mike Pence’s political action committee. That means Trump seems to have spent more time making money for his own hotel in a single evening than he did on official presidential business on Monday and Tuesday combined.

Monday’s jaunt was in line with Trump’s history of generally being quick to leave the White House if it involves heading to one of his hotels or golf clubs.

When Trump has visitors, they seem to rarely be at the White House on official business. According to a Washington Post report, Trump has taken a liking to becoming a bizarre and boorish tour guide.

“We’ve remodeled it since then,” he said on a tour in December, said a person with direct knowledge of the event. In a visit in 2017, Trump told a TV anchor, “I’m told this is where Bill and Monica . . .” — stopping himself from going further, according to “Team of Vipers,” a new book by former White House aide Cliff Sims that The Washington Post obtained before its publication Tuesday.

Three other people who have embarked on a tour with Trump said he made similar comments regarding the former president and the White House intern, laughing and making facial expressions. The subject often leads to lengthy, sometimes crass conversations, aides said.

Often spending days ensconced in the presidential residence, Trump relishes giving tours to acquaintances and strangers by the hundreds, bragging all the while about improving it while he lives there, according to nearly a dozen visitors and current and former White House aides, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal details of the private events. With new chandeliers and imported artwork added during his tenure, showing guests around the White House is among his favorite activities, they said.

Trump adds his own made-up embellishments to his little tours, telling guests that Barack Obama would sit and “watch basketball all day” in the dining room. Not only did numerous former Obama aides push back on that claim, but basketball isn’t even on during the day during weekdays, making Trump’s claim impossible.

Executive time — the euphemistic term the White House uses for time Trump watches TV or lounges around — has increased over the past two years. So it’s no surprise that Trump brags to visitors about things like the size and number of TVs in the building, in addition to the specially-made DVR in the White House.

Trump’s days are spent wasting more time than any other president in recent memory, likely ever. Seemingly just waiting around — for the next shoe to drop in the Robert Mueller probe, for a political kerfuffle to tweet about, for the next rally, for the next election, for anything he finds more interesting than policy-making or actual work — Trump seems content to watch Fox News and act as a White House docent for the next two years.

740 days in, 722 to go

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