Trump shrugs off leak of his ample 'Executive Time,' which is good because Axios has a new batch of leaked calendars


The leak of President Trump's internal calendars showing he devoted 60 percent of this workday to unstructured "Executive Time" spooked the White House, and in response, "enraged White House officials" launched a mole hunt to catch the leaker, Axios reported Sunday, confirming a report in Politico. "This crackdown has not stopped the leaking," Axios notes, posting four new leaked private schedules that show Trump spent about half of last week in "Executive Time."
Trump indicated how much this betrayal is not "a source of repeated embarrassment" that has "infuriated" him, as Politico reported, by tweeting on Sunday that his leaked calendars "should have been reported as a positive, not negative. When the term Executive Time is used, I am generally working, not relaxing. In fact, I probably work more hours than almost any past president."
In fact, Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman reports, the leaking of the schedules, "which revealed how little work Trump actually does, was a signal of how disaffected his staff has become." The main problem, one former West Wing official told Sherman, is that "Trump is hated by everyone inside the White House." Sherman's 10 sources said Trump's management style, paranoia, penchant for blaming staff for problems he created, and increasing tendency to "run the West Wing as a family business," have left staff burned out and resentful, and several high profile aides are eying the exits, including Whit House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Trump White House, of course, "has pledged to root out leakers in the past — most recently after a New York Times op-ed penned last year by a senior administration official identified only as 'part of the resistance inside the Trump administration,'" Politico notes. "In the wake of the op-ed's publication, the White House embarked on a search for the official that has yet to turn up the culprit."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
September 14 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants