President Donald Trump gave a strange excuse that caused him to miss an important diplomatic meeting by a full hour. He explained it during a freewheeling television interview, describing an awkward exchange with an unnamed foreign leader who called out his unpunctuality.
Donald Trump blamed daylight saving time for delaying an important meeting with an unnamed foreign leader
On Tuesday, Donald Trump recounted the meeting on Real America’s Voice, sharing, “I was an hour late for an appointment, a big one with a big person from a big country.” When the leader remarked on his delay, Trump said he responded with disbelief: “I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ Oh, it’s, ‘You forgot to spring forward’ or ‘fall back,’ you know?”
The White House offered no details about which meeting Trump described. When The Daily Beast requested comment, officials pointed to a May Truth Social post without addressing the president’s story. Trump’s last notable late happened in June, when he kept world leaders waiting in France for nearly an hour and reportedly declared, “I’m the boss.”
Now, Trump used the anecdote to champion permanent daylight saving time. “What is 99—even 100—percent is people hate changing their clocks all the time,” he claimed, though a February 2026 YouGov poll placed the number at 64%. The president also linked extended evening light to crime reduction. “Criminals sleep late, you know. They do their crime in the evening,” he said.
In May, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced a bill to lock the clocks by a 48-1 vote. Trump celebrated on Truth Social, writing that people could “stop worrying about the ‘Clock’” and calling the measure “a very nice WIN for the Republican Party.” The legislation later stalled in the Senate over safety fears for commuters travelling in morning darkness.
Trump dismissed those concerns. “Some people like a little light in the morning. I don’t know why,” he said. “I’d rather have the light in the afternoon, you know, good for sports, good for crime, good for everything.” The above-mentioned survey found more Americans favour permanent daylight saving time over permanent standard time.
