Former President Donald Trump reiterated his call on Friday for permanent Daylight Saving Time, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle continue to promote legislation aimed at extending evening daylight throughout the winter months.
“The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!”
Trump, now 78, had previously championed the change but seemed to express hesitation just last month, pointing out concerns voiced by people in northern states about students having to travel to school before sunrise during winter.
In a statement issued in December, Trump said: “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!”
However, during a meeting in the Oval Office last month, Trump expressed mixed feelings about the topic, stating that it was “hard to get excited” about the proposal. “It’s very much a fifty-fifty issue and it’s something I can do, but a lot of people like it one way, a lot of people like it the other way,” he remarked.
“I assume people would like to have more light later,” Trump added at the time, “but some people want to have more light earlier because they don’t want to take their kids to school in the dark.”
Momentum for ending the biannual clock change gained traction in 2022 when a proposal introduced by then-Senator Marco Rubio of Florida — who now serves as Trump’s secretary of state — passed the Senate without objection but later stalled in the House.
{Matzav.com}