--- description: Most people in the U.S. will change their clocks on March 9. But if Trump acts on his pledge, Daylight Savings as we know it could change. title: How Could Daylight Saving Time Change Under Trump? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt39b03b3122f346cd/6998c48dd32e935c70cd6c82/DST-Trump.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Sleep](/tag/sleep/) ## Sleep Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Daylight Saving Time Could Change Under Trump ## Video: Daylight Saving Time: Here's What Losing An Hour of Sleep Really Does to Your Body [Watch (HLS stream): Daylight Saving Time: Here's What Losing An Hour of Sleep Really Does to Your Body](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Sq5cPO5f.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2018-03-09. The start of Daylight Saving Time, when the clocks spring forward by an hour, is among the most hated days of the year_ by [Chantelle Lee](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 4, 2025 1:00 PM CUT  A steeple clock at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Carlisle, Massachusetts on Nov. 3, 2023. A steeple clock at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Carlisle, Massachusetts on Nov. 3, 2023.David L. Ryan—Boston Globe/Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Mar 4, 2025 1:00 PM CUT On March 9, most people in the U.S. will set their clocks forward an hour, thanks to the start of Daylight Saving Time. But if President Donald Trump acts on what he’s said about the practice, Daylight Saving Time as we know it could change. Daylight Saving Time has long been controversial—most countries don’t participate in it, and many Americans have [said](https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/etwjvohrxx/Daylight%5FSaving%5FTime%5FToplines%5FCrosstabs.pdf "undefined") they want to stop changing the clocks twice a year. Trump has expressed support for ending the practice, but recent efforts to do so have [stalled](https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1235811935/daylight-saving-time-change-2024 "undefined"), and only two states—Hawaii and most of Arizona—don’t participate in Daylight Saving Time. Here’s what Trump has said about Daylight Saving Time, and what changes could potentially be on the horizon. **Read More:** [_When Do the Clocks Move Forward in the U.S.? Your 2025 Guide to Daylight Saving Time_](https://time.com/7261978/daylight-saving-time-march-2025-what-to-know/ "undefined") ## **What has Trump said so far about Daylight Saving Time?** On Dec. 13, 2024, Trump [posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113647254141876924 "undefined") on his social media site, Truth Social, “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.” But more than a month into his presidency, Trump has yet to make any moves on the issue since his Truth Social post, and experts are a little unsure as to what changes could be coming. David Prerau, author of _Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time_ and an expert on the topic, says there are three options. The first is to keep the existing system of changing the clocks twice a year; currently, most of America sets the clock forward an hour starting in March for Daylight Saving Time, and sets the clock back an hour starting in November for Standard Time. The second option is to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, and the third is to make Standard Time permanent. “\[Trump\] said it in a very short sentence without detail so it isn’t clear which of those he meant,” Prerau says. “Most people don’t even realize that there are two other options.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity on Trump’s plans for Daylight Saving Time. ## **What would permanent Daylight Saving Time look like?** Daylight Saving Time is meant to allow people to make use of the daylight in the evening during the warmer months. Making Daylight Saving Time permanent would mean advancing the clocks an hour for the entire year, so the sun would appear to rise and set an hour later, not just in the summer, but in the winter too, Prerau says. Lawmakers have tried to do this in the past. A bipartisan bill called the Sunshine Protection Act would have made Daylight Saving Time year-round, but the bill stalled, and was recently reintroduced by Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida. Lawmakers who have expressed support for the bill argue that changing the clock twice a year is an inconvenient disruption. “I hear from Americans constantly that they are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year—it’s an unnecessary, decades-old practice that’s more of an annoyance to families than benefit to them,” Scott [said](https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2025/1/sen-rick-scott-leads-bipartisan-bill-to-lock-the-clock "undefined") in a Jan. 8 press release about reintroducing the Sunshine Protection Act. “I’m excited to have President Trump back in the White House and fully on board to LOCK THE CLOCK so we can get this good bill passed and make this common-sense change that will simplify and benefit the lives of American families.” Trump has previously indicated support for such a change, [tweeting](https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/11/politics/donald-trump-daylight-saving-time/index.html "undefined") in 2019, “Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!” Prerau says the U.S. government made Daylight Saving Time permanent before, in 1974, during an energy crisis. But the change was unpopular because the sun appeared to rise later in the morning, so many people were waking up and going to work or school in the dark. The permanent time change was [repealed](https://www.nytimes.com/1974/10/01/archives/senate-votes-return-to-standard-time-for-four-months-and-sends-bill.html "undefined") less than a year later. “We have tried that year-round Daylight Saving Time, and it proved very unpopular nationally,” Prerau says. **Read More:** [_The U.S. Tried Permanent Daylight Saving Time Before. Here’s What Happened_](https://time.com/6157915/daylight-saving-time-history/ "undefined") Dr. David Kuhlmann, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and a sleep medicine doctor, says that while the AASM supports ending the seasonal time changes, it doesn’t support making Daylight Saving Time permanent. Rather, the academy has been [advocating](https://aasm.org/permanent-standard-time-is-the-optimal-choice-for-health-and-safety/ "undefined") for making Standard Time permanent, arguing that it aligns best with our circadian rhythms and would be better for our health and safety. “\[If we had permanent Daylight Saving Time\] people would be waking up in darkness, and likely be going to work in darkness … versus being able to get up with the more natural rhythm of the sun,” Kuhlmann says. ## **What would permanent Standard Time look like?** Making Standard Time permanent would mean setting the clocks back an hour for the entire year, so the sun would appear to rise and set an hour earlier not just in the winter, but in the summer too. Many health and sleep experts support making Standard Time permanent because they say it would be better for our health. Kuhlmann says that toggling between Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time disrupts our sleep and circadian rhythm, which is associated with negative health effects. He points to studies that have found Daylight Saving Time to be associated with an increased risk of [motor vehicle accidents](https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2819%2931678-1 "undefined") and an increased risk of [stroke](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1389945716302222?via%3Dihub "undefined") and [hospital admissions](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1389945720300496?via%3Dihub "undefined"), among other impacts. He adds that the effects of the “circadian misalignment” from Daylight Saving Time don't just last for a few days after the clocks change, but for the entire eight months that we use Daylight Saving Time. Generally speaking, making Standard Time permanent would allow us to wake up with the sun year-round, Kuhlmann says, and so would be better aligned with our circadian rhythm and ultimately more beneficial for our health. “From a circadian alignment perspective … it’s really the only choice that’s healthy,” Kuhlmann says. Prerau says the cons of making Standard Time permanent are that, in the summer, many people would likely still be sleeping when the sun appears to rise earlier, and they wouldn’t get to take advantage of the daylight in the evening since the sun would appear to set earlier. Rather than changing the current practice, he suggests that officials improve messaging, such as through public service announcements, to help people better prepare for and anticipate the seasonal time changes. “The current system is really a compromise between those two possibilities and it’s actually, in my opinion, better than either one because you’re getting the best of both,” Prerau says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7264009/daylight-saving-time-change-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7264009/daylight-saving-time-change-trump/"},"headline":"How Daylight Saving Time Could Change Under Trump","datePublished":"2025-03-04T13:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:53:53.082Z","description":"Most people in the U.S. will change their clocks on March 9. 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