--- title: Trump on Presidency: 'More Work than in My Previous Life' description: President Trump said in an interview that he misses life before DC, and is still adjusting to the new job's constraints. canonical: https://time.com/4759043/donald-trump-presidency-work-interview/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-28T08:48:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:39:10.835Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says He Thought Being President 'Would Be Easier' og:description: In an interview, Trump said that he misses the life he had before moving to DC. og:url: https://time.com/4759043/donald-trump-presidency-work-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf75728f490ff81f8/6988cb1bab6d7756c06addcb/rts149df.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: U.S. President Donald Trump looks out window of the Oval Office following an interview with Reuters at the White House in Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says He Thought Being President 'Would Be Easier' twitter:description: In an interview, Trump said that he misses the life he had before moving to DC. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf75728f490ff81f8/6988cb1bab6d7756c06addcb/rts149df.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Says He Thought Being President 'Would Be Easier' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e199a825-867e-442d-873b-f9310d6cf769&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Apr 28, 2017 8:48 AM UTC  President Donald Trump looks out a window of the Oval Office at the White House, April 27, 2017. President Donald Trump looks out a window of the Oval Office at the White House, April 27, 2017. Carlos Barria—Reuters by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Apr 28, 2017 8:48 AM UTC As the clock ticks towards [his administration’s 100-day mark](http://time.com/4752174/president-trumps-100-day-showdown/), U.S. President Donald Trump said that he misses the life he had before moving to D.C. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier,” he said of the presidency in an interview with Reuters at the Oval Office. “I loved my previous life,” the former _Apprentice_ host and real estate tycoon said. “I had so many things going.” Trump told Reuters that he was still adjusting to the limitations on his personal movement and the 24-hour protection that comes with the job. “You’re really into your own little cocoon,” he said, “because you have such massive protection that you really can’t go anywhere.” The President also said that he misses [driving](http://time.com/4711764/donald-trump-pretend-truck-photo-white-house/) by himself — a limousine or an SUV now usually takes him around, according to Reuters. “I like to drive. I can’t drive any more,” he said. In the same interview, Trump [commented](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-exclusive-idUSKBN17U0A0) on the prospects of a possible government [shutdown](http://time.com/4753249/trump-government-shutdown-border-wall-2017/), and said that a “[major, major conflict with North Korea](http://time.com/4758883/donald-trump-major-conflict-north-korea)” could be possible, though he and the administration would prefer a nonviolent resolution. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-100days-idUSKBN17U0CA)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4759043/donald-trump-presidency-work-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4759043/donald-trump-presidency-work-interview/"},"headline":"Trump Says He Thought Being President 'Would Be Easier'","datePublished":"2017-04-28T08:48:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:39:10.835Z","description":"He also said he's still adjusting to the limitations on his personal movement and the 24-hour protection","url":"https://time.com/4759043/donald-trump-presidency-work-interview/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf75728f490ff81f8/6988cb1bab6d7756c06addcb/rts149df.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf75728f490ff81f8/6988cb1bab6d7756c06addcb/rts149df.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Donald Trump looks out window of the Oval Office following an interview with Reuters at the White House in Washington","caption":"U.S. President Donald Trump looks out window of the Oval Office following an interview with Reuters at the White House in Washington","creditText":"Carlos Barria—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4759043/donald-trump-presidency-work-interview/","name":"Trump Says He Thought Being President 'Would Be Easier'"}}]}] ```