President Donald Trump, who just last month said he’s too busy “reading documents” to watch much television, spends up to 8 hours in front of the TV each day, according to a new report.
White House aides tell The New York Times that Trump watches at least 4 hours, and sometimes up to twice that much, per day — part of what the publication describes as “an hour-by-hour battle for self-preservation.”
“Around 5:30 each morning, President Trump wakes and tunes into the television in the White House’s master bedroom,” the Times reports. “He flips to CNN for news, moves to ‘Fox & Friends’ for comfort and messaging ideas, and sometimes watches MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ because, friends suspect, it fires him up for the day.”
Television serves as the “ammunition” for his outbursts on Twitter, according to the Times. No one is allowed to touch the remote except him and technical staff. And if he misses an important segment, he watches it later on what he calls his “Super TiVo.”
There’s a 60-inch TV in the White House dining room that Trump keeps an eye on during meetings, according to the NYT. He enjoys Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, and occasionally “hate-watches” CNN’s Don Lemon.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One during his trip to Asia last month, Trump dismissed the idea that he has time for the tube. The reason: documents.
“Believe it or not, even when I’m in Washington or New York, I do not watch much television,” Trump said. “I know they like to say that. People that don’t know me, they like to say I watch television — people with fake sources. You know, fake reporters, fake sources.”
He added: “But I don’t get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I’m reading documents. A lot. And different things. I actually read much more — I read you people much more than I watch television.”
