In a post on the social media site TruthSocial, he said the party would use its “best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!”
This announcement follows similar calls to ban the practice in recent weeks by the chairs of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
What is Daylight Saving Time and why is the practice followed? We explain
What is Daylight Saving Time?
DST essentially refers to the practice of resetting clocks ahead by an hour in spring, and behind by an hour in autumn. This would ensure that the clocks show a later sunrise and sunset — in effect a longer evening daytime.
Proponents of the practice argue that DST will save energy. Individuals would wake an hour earlier than usual, complete their daily work routines an hour earlier, and have an extra hour of daylight at the end. In theory, the extra hour of daylight means a lower consumption of energy.
However, critics believe that this forces children to walk to school in darkness as it delays sunrise by an hour. They also claim that the process of changing the clocks twice a year disrupts sleep cycles and can cause other health issues. USA Today cited a study that found DST increases the risk of heart attack by 25%, while a return to original times lowers the risk by 21%. It quoted Timothy Morgenthaler, a sleep medicine researcher, as that disrupted sleep patterns might affect memory, learning, social interactions and overall cognitive performance.
Where is DST practised?
In the US, where it is practised everywhere except in Hawaii and most of Arizona, it starts this year on March 10 and ends on November 3, when clocks will be set back to the original times.
India does not follow daylight saving time; countries near the Equator do not experience high variations in daytime hours between seasons.
Written accounts suggest that a group of Canadians in Port Arthur (Ontario) were the first to adopt the practice on July 1, 1908, setting their clocks an hour ahead. Other parts of Canada followed suit.
In April 1916, during World War I, Germany and Austria introduced DST to minimise the use of artificial lighting. It gradually caught on in many countries. In the EU, clocks in the 28 member states move forward on the last Sunday in March and fall back on the last Sunday in October.
According to a BBC report, the US first began the seasonal changing of its clocks in 1918 in World War I in a bid to conserve fuel. Farmers protested the move, and it was stopped after the war. However, DST was revived in World War II and made permanent in 1966.
Has the Congress attempted to repeal the practice in the past?
Yes. In 2022, Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican attempted to introduce the Sunshine Protection Act, which if passed would implement DST all year round. While it was passed in the Senate, it failed to clear the House of Representatives.
Trump has tapped Rubio to serve as his Secretary of State in the upcoming administration.
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