President Trump spends at least four hours a day watching television, according to a new report.
People close to Trump told The New York Times that Trump spends at least that much time in front of a TV each day, and sometimes spends as many as eight hours watching television.
The Times reports that Trump begins each day around 5:30 a.m. by turning on CNN before quickly flipping to Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.” He occasionally watches MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” because it works him up, Trump’s friends told the Times.
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Trump’s favorite programs include “Fox & Friends” as well as Fox News primetime shows from Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Jeanine Pirro. Trump sometimes “hate-watches” CNN host Don Lemon, according to the report.
The Times also reports that the only people allowed to touch the remote control for the White House television are Trump and White House technical support staffers.
During his trip to Asia last month, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he doesn’t watch much television at the White House because he’s busy “reading documents.”
“Believe it or not, even when I’m in Washington or New York, I do not watch much television,” Trump said. “People that don’t know me, they like to say I watch television — people with fake sources. You know, fake reporters, fake sources.”
“But I don’t get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I’m reading documents. A lot,” Trump continued. “I actually read much more — I read you people much more than I watch television.”
The Times reports that Trump told reporters about his TV-watching habits after the newspaper presented the White House with a long list of fact-checking questions, including one about how often he watches television.
Trump has previously insisted he has “very little time for watching TV,” though he often tweets about Fox News and CNN segments just after they air live.
Trump also had a 60-inch flat screen TV installed in his private White House dining room, according to Time magazine.