In a society that is collectively obsessed with morning routines of the rich and famous, it's hard not to stop and wonder: How does President Donald Trump spend his mornings?
A glimpse at Trump's daily schedule, as shown in detailed copies obtained by Axios, reveals that he's an early riser but prefers a later start at the office.
Trump typically wakes up before 6 a.m., sources tell Axios, and the first five hours of his mornings are devoted to "executive time." According to Axios, that's anything from watching or reading the news, making calls, checking in with members of Congress, friends, administration officials and informal advisers.
He also tweets — a lot. According to calculations from The Washington Post, about half of the president's tweets over the days for which Axios obtained the schedule documents — from November 7, 2018 to February 1, 2019 — were sent before 11 a.m.
Trump "officially" starts his workday at around 11 a.m. It might consist of an intelligence briefing or a 30-minute meeting with the chief of staff. Lunch is around 12:45 p.m., followed by several meetings, media engagements, speech preps, more executive time and so on.
Trump prefers to skip breakfast, and he doesn't make exercising a priority. "I get exercise. I mean I walk, I this, I that. I run over to a building next door. I get more exercise than people think," he told Reuters in 2018.
While it's unclear what time Trump goes to bed, he doesn't find it necessary to get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep.
"Don't sleep any more than you have to. I usually sleep about four hours per night," he wrote in his 2004 book "Think Like a Billionaire." Gwenda Blair, Trump's biographer, even said in a 2017 interview with The Guardian that Trump "has made a big deal of saying he never sleeps and that people who sleep are lazy."
So how does the president's morning routine stack up against the routines of other leaders?
1. Tim Cook
The Apple CEO starts his day at around 4 a.m. and reportedly enjoys up to seven hours of sleep each night. His routines include reviewing user comments about Apple products and at least one hour at the gym. "It keeps my stress at bay," Cook said in an interview with Axios.
2. Kevin O'Leary
The "Shark Tank" judge gets up at 5 a.m. after getting six hours of sleep. "I ride the bike — an elliptical bike — watching international business news from 5 to 6 a.m.," O'Leary tells CNBC Make It. Then he squeezes in enough cardio time to burn 500 calories. By 6:30 a.m., he's in his signature suit and off to work.
3. Richard Branson
The Virgin Group founder starts his mornings at around 5 a.m. "The reason I like to wake up early is so that I can work through my emails before most of the world logs on," Branson wrote in a blog post. He may also play a game of tennis, go for a run or kitesurf. "Then I eat breakfast and spend time with my family. Exercise and family time put me in a great mind frame before getting down to business."
4. Jeff Bezos
After a good eight hours of sleep, the Amazon CEO likes to "putter" in the morning. "I like to read the newspaper, I like to have coffee, I like to have breakfast with my kids before they go to school," Bezos said at a talk in Washington, D.C. in 2018. After some puttering, it's on to business. "I like to do my high IQ meetings before lunch, like anything that's going to be really mentally challenging, that's a 10:00 a.m. meeting," he said.
5. Oprah Winfrey
The media mogul wakes up between 7 and 7:30 a.m. after getting five hours of sleep. The most important part of her morning is practicing the art of stillness and staying present. "Everything begins and ends with stillness: a conscious awareness of my presence within the greater presence of all, whether I'm paying attention to the way the sun's rising, or whether it's misty out in the morning on the trees," she said in an interview with Fast Company.
6. Elon Musk
The Tesla founder says he gets six hours of sleep and wakes up at 7 a.m. every morning. He spends about an hour checking emails before sending his kids off to school. Breakfast isn't a priority for Musk — but he will always, no matter what, make time to shower. In a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session, he credited showering as the daily habit that has had the largest positive impact on his life.
7. Dolly Parton
The legendary country singer wakes up at 3 a.m. every day to meditate and gets most of her work done before 7 a.m. Like Trump, Parton is also a member of the sleepless elite. "I don't require a lot of sleep," she said in an interview with E! News. "I get that from my dad, too. Hard work and not much sleep. But I get all the sleep I need, it's just that my metabolism just doesn't require a lot of sleep."
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