Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images
Changing daylight saving time has obvious appeal for Donald Trump. Many people hate switching their clocks twice a year, so ending that practice may win him rare bipartisan approval. Trump could call out Joe Biden and Democratic congressional leaders for failing to take action despite growing momentum around the issue in recent years. And altering the way millions of Americans experience time definitely has the sort of kinglike vibe he enjoys.
So will President Trump finally end this biannual ritual? Can he even do that? Is he in favor of permanent standard time or permanent daylight saving time? Does he even know the difference? Here’s an explainer, which we’ll keep updated, on Trump’s clock-switching stance.
First, what is standard time? And when do we switch to daylight saving time?
Perplexed? You’re in good company. Under the current system, in addition to changing our clocks, making up for lost sleep, and adjusting kids’ nap schedules, we’re expected to waste precious time remembering the difference between two not very obvious terms.
Basically, standard time is the one most people in the United States use in the winter months. Each year, we “fall back” to standard time on the first Sunday in November. Then we “spring forward” to daylight saving time on the second Sunday in March.
This is pretty confusing as “standard” lasts only four months. During the other eight months, we’re on daylight saving time. Even more confusingly, a lot of people refer to it as “daylight savings time,” plural, though that is grammatically incorrect. Oh, and two states, Arizona and Hawaii, don’t observe daylight saving time at all. It’s a mess!
Can Trump really end daylight saving time?
Unilaterally, no. We’re in our current temporal predicament owing to a series of actions that originated in Congress, as Vox explained:
In the United States, [daylight saving time] was formally adopted during World War I as part of an effort to save fuel, which was especially scarce. But it was only done during the summer — otherwise, farmers would have to wake up and begin farming in the dark to be on the same schedule as everyone else.
After the war, DST was abandoned, then adopted again during World War II (again to save fuel), then abandoned again by some states but kept by others, beginning and ending on irregular dates. Finally, in 1966, the federal government mandated that all states had to do summer daylight saving time — unless the whole state opted out — and specified the start and end dates.
The annual DST period has since been slightly lengthened a few times. Most recently, in 2005 — partly due to lobbying by the Chamber of Commerce, sporting goods manufacturers, and retailers that sell home improvement goods, among other groups — Congress extended the DST period by a few weeks at both the start and the end.
But as with any bill passed by Congress, the president must sign the changes into law. And obviously, Trump has a tremendous amount of sway over the Republicans who currently control both the House and Senate.
What has Trump said about daylight saving time?
Over the years, Trump has sent mixed messages on his clock-changing stance. During his first term, he said he wanted to make daylight saving time permanent (or at least didn’t object to congressional efforts to do so):
Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2019
Then, weeks after winning the 2024 election, Trump announced on Truth Social that the GOP would work to do the opposite:
In March 2024, Trump seemed to wash his hands of the issue:
“It’s a 50-50 issue, and if something is a 50-50 issue, it’s hard to get excited about it. I assume people would like to have more light later, but some people would like to have more light earlier because they don’t want to take their kids to school in the dark,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s something I can do, but a lot of people like it one way; a lot of people like it the other way.”
President Trump shares uncertainty over whether administration will change Daylight Saving Time pic.twitter.com/LbGSZ3HOmL
— New York Post (@nypost) March 6, 2025
A month later, Trump jumped back into the debate — and reverted to his original stance. In this April 11 Truth Social post, he seemed to call for permanent daylight saving time:
Wait, so what’s Trump’s stance on this?
Like most of us, he’s confused. But at the moment, it seems he favors permanent daylight saving time and, “most importantly,” no more clock switching.
Didn’t Congress already try to end clock switching?
Yes. Senator Edward Markey has been pushing legislation to make daylight saving time permanent since the ’80s. But it became less of a fringe issue in recent years when then-Senator Marco Rubio introduced the Sunshine Protection Act. After languishing in committee for several years, the bill suddenly and surprisingly passed the Senate by unanimous consent in 2022.
Then … nothing happened. Despite a lot of public excitement about ending this biannual clock drama, the bill was never taken up by the House and thus never made it to President Biden’s desk.
What is Congress doing now?
Several iterations of the Sunshine Protection Act have been introduced since 2022, but they all failed to advance in Congress. The 2025 act, introduced in early January, doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at the moment.
On April 10, Ted Cruz, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, held a hearing on the issue with the cute title “If I Could Turn Back Time: Should We Lock the Clock?” He opened the hearing by making the case for ending the time-shifting practice:
WATCH: I deliver opening remarks for a @SenateCommerce hearing examining daylight saving time — with a focus on LOCKING THE CLOCK.
This is an important discussion focused on health, economic productivity, and safety. pic.twitter.com/fGbu5iWkIX
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 10, 2025
The committee then heard from both advocates for permanent daylight saving time and those who favor sticking with standard time. No clear conclusion was reached, according to USA Today.
So what happens next?
Lobbyists will duke it out. On April 21, Politico reported that Trump’s remarks and Cruz’s hearing “set off a flurry of activity among a small but highly engaged cadre of lobbyists and advocates for industries that would benefit from permanent daylight saving time — and those that want to stick with standard time”:
It’s an issue that has pitted the golf industry and retail interests against sleep doctors and Christian radio broadcasters, as well as people pursuing passion projects on both sides.
These advocates are now planning new outreach to the Trump administration — including Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services — as well as to members of Congress who came close but fell short in advancing legislation to make daylight saving time permanent in 2022.
Activity is picking up around the issue among conservative influencers, too. Jack Posobiec, an influential MAGA podcaster with millions of social-media followers, is working to sell permanent standard time to his massive following. In one recent post on X, Posobiec called standard time — which means more morning sunlight — “God’s time.”
What’s the right answer?
No one knows! Even after setting up a hearing and listening to several hours of testimony, Cruz couldn’t make up his mind.
“I personally struggle with the two choices here because it’s a question of what do you care about more: sunshine and joy and fun and money, or health, mental health, physical health,” Cruz said. “And the honest answer for most people: Gosh, I care about all that stuff.”
So it looks as though we’ll all continue to experience regular bouts of time-change-related darkness and misery, at least for a bit longer.
