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Allison Graves
By Allison Graves January 16, 2017
Back to Not take vacations

Not take vacations

Starting Jan. 20, 2017, we'll be looking closely at Donald Trump's calendar to see if he takes any vacations.

In 2015, Trump told The Hill he would not be the type of president to take time off for vacation. Flash forward one year and Trump has watered down that promise, saying he won't be big on vacations.

"There's just so much to be done," Trump told CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview broadcast Nov. 13, 2016. "So I don't think we'll be very big on vacations, no."

Barack Obama made a similar claim before being elected president in 2008: "You give me this office and in turn, my fears, doubts, insecurities, foibles, need for sleep, family life, vacations, leisure is gone," Obama said in 2008. "I am giving myself to you."

But by September 2016, Obama had gone on 28 vacations (including long weekends) spanning all or part of 217 days. This was with four months left in his presidency.

In the past, PolitiFact has turned to CBS White House reporter Mark Knoller's unofficial but widely trusted data on presidential vacations. Knoller told PolitiFact in January he would be tracking Trump's travels.  

Knoller has kept track of other presidents' travels, including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama. He once noted that a president is really never on vacation because the responsibilities of the job follow him.