Trump's daily schedule is often full of nothing

President Trump apparently has plenty of time to think up those off-the-wall tweets he's so famous for.

The leader of the free world's days are often dominated by undefined chunks of "Executive Time," private schedules examined by Politico show. Trump spends much of it "tweeting, phoning friends, and watching television," Politico writes — and he had a whole nine hours of it scheduled last Tuesday alone.

Past presidents notoriously crammed their schedules to make best use of their time. It was their "most valuable commodity," President George W. Bush's former chief of staff Mark McLarty told Politico. But Trump often complained about his rigorous schedule when he first took office. So when White House Chief of Staff John Kelly started his job, he invented "Executive Time," a former White House aide says. And now, senior staffers are reportedly the ones complaining about what he does with it.

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Trump has recently started pushing his commitments later and later in the day, filling his mornings with tweetstorms and hours in front of the TV, another former White House aide tells Politico. Last Tuesday, he kicked off his day at 11:30 a.m. with a meeting, and only had a few other engagements scheduled for the rest of the day. The other nine hours were "Executive Time."

The rest of the week wasn't quite so relaxed as Tuesday, Politico notes. Aides also say Trump often fills those unscheduled hours with impromptu briefings and phone calls. Still, these freewheeling breaks show how "short-term bugaboos become the drivers of [Trump's] agenda, rather than any long-term vision," Politico writes. Read more about Trump's calendar at Politico.