- President Donald Trump spends at least 4 hours a day in front of a TV, and sometimes as many as 8 hours.
- Trump's affinity for cable news is well known, but the extent to which it influences his daily schedule is perhaps greater than what most people thought.
- Among his favorite shows and networks to watch are Fox & Friends, MSNBC's "Morning Joe," and even CNN.
Trump has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that he is a TV addict.
The New York Times noted that because of his large appetite for cable news consumption, Trump's associates "raised questions about his capacity and willingness to differentiate bad information from something that is true."
Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly tries to manage the flow of information to Trump and mitigate the president's fiery outbursts on Twitter. In August, Kelly sent two memos around the White House outlining his approach to streamlining Trump's schedule. Kelly felt that a big component of that, according to the memos, was to vet each and every piece of news that made it to the Resolute desk.
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The shake-up marked a significant departure from a previously freewheeling West Wing in which aides, advisers, and confidants enjoyed relatively frequent access to the Oval Office. But while Kelly has been able to enact changes to the way the West Wing functions since assuming his new role, multiple media reports, including The Times', indicated that Kelly has been unable to monitor every aspect of Trump's news consumption.