Exclusive | Trump working up to 12-hour days, Oval Office logs show — refuting NY Times report on ‘fatigue’ limiting events

WASHINGTON — White House records indicate that President Trump kept 12‑hour days this month. The Post received these confidential logs after the New York Times suggested his publicly disclosed schedule showed “signs of fatigue.”

The “private narrative” files cover ten weekdays from November 12 to 25—the date the Times piece ran—and show the president logged about 50 hours per week, exclusive of any weekend duties.

By sharing the logs—a move rarely made—the White House aimed to rebut the notion that 79‑year‑old Trump is slowing down, illustrating instead that he is still pulling long hours while pushing trade and immigration reforms, working to halt the Russia‑Ukraine conflict, and leading major White House construction projects.

These records do not account for unsolicited phone calls he is known to answer in the early mornings or late nights, nor his late‑night social‑media activity.

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, aides logged 32 meetings and calls with staff, lawmakers, and business leaders, the very morning the Senate passed the legislation ending the 43‑day shutdown.

Trump began the day with a 10:30 a.m. staff briefing in the Roosevelt Room, then moved into a string of conference calls and face‑to‑face meetings—rounding up Vice President JD Vance, Staff Secretary Will Scharf, six lawmakers, three judicial nominees, and an architect.

The session wrapped up at 7:45 p.m. with a dinner for top Wall Street figures, followed by a post‑10 p.m. signing ceremony to conclude the shutdown and a late‑night meeting with a corporate executive that started at 10:40 p.m., per the logs.

Thursday, Nov. 13, saw 17 engagements over eight and a half hours, beginning with a 10:39 a.m. sit‑down with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Counsel David Warrington.

That morning Trump also met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, received an intelligence briefing, held a pre‑brief with a speechwriter, signed an executive order alongside First Lady Melania Trump, gave a media interview, talked to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and joined a 6 p.m. tele‑rally for Tennessee candidate Mike Van Epps, among other interactions, the logs show.

On Friday, Nov. 14, Trump began with four international calls, the first at 8:21 a.m. from the White House residence, as he worked to ease tensions between Cambodia and Thailand.

He then conducted 18 more discussions, gave another media interview, and headed to Mar‑a‑Lago for the weekend, speaking to reporters for 26 minutes aboard Air Force One.

While some names were redacted, the documented events align with public knowledge of that period.

The Times headline—“Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office”—triggered a furious response from the president, who called the piece “ugly, both inside and out.”

The article’s analysis relied on the Times’ publicly posted schedule, not the comprehensive “Outer Oval” logs. It noted that during the first year of his first term, Trump’s first official event averaged 10:31 a.m., while in his second term the average shifted later to 12:08 p.m.—with daily ends roughly the same as the early days.

Nonetheless, the Times continued to claim Trump comes to the Oval Office after 11 a.m. on a regular basis, citing a source familiar with his routine. The 10 days the Post received reflect early meetings before 11 a.m. on seven of those days, all after 10:12 a.m.

Trump, the nation’s second oldest president after Joe Biden, has historically dismissed external calls about his age. In 2020, he famously waved to reporters while still ill with COVID‑19, wearing a suit and tie. The White House contended the Times’ portrayal aimed to mimic past narratives that cast Biden as mentally declining—a story widely accepted as he left office at 82.

“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to The Post during a Monday briefing.

“The truth is President Trump never stops working, and his private schedule, Truth Social posts, and round‑the‑clock engagement on every issue proves just that.”

Susie Wiles told The Post, “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. He draws energy from people and experiences and work generally. The more that’s going on, the higher his level of function.”

The Times also pointed out that Trump does domestic travel less frequently now than he did in 2017, although foreign trips have increased.

In 2025, he undertook a series of rapid, deal‑intensive visits across the Middle East and East Asia—stopping in Qatar, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea between Oct. 25–30. Trump arrived in Malaysia after a 23‑hour flight, danced with local performers on the tarmac, and then departed South Korea to hand out candy to trick‑or‑treaters on the White House lawn.

“As for Asia, he doesn’t sleep… or he sleeps minimally. The rest of us actually need some sleep,” Wiles recalled.

“When we travel like that, nobody can stay up and stay awake with him the whole trip… We take shifts because nobody could possibly keep up with him,” the chief of staff said.

“There is a bed in his cabin on Air Force One and I don’t think it has ever been used.”