Trump promises to reverse “very expensive” daylight saving time

US President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to end Daylight Saving Time (DST), claiming it is “inconvenient” and “very expensive” for Americans.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said DST has a “small but powerful constituency, but it shouldn’t” and that his Republican Party will work to end it.

Daylight saving time is the practice of moving the clocks forward one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall to make better use of natural daylight.

According to the Pew Research Center, this is the case in a third of the world’s countries, including most of Europe. Some in the US, however, have long advocated ending the outdated tradition.

Those who want to stick to standard time say it’s good for our health because it’s better to have more light in the morning, which paves the way for better sleep cycles in the dark evenings. Daylight saving time can throw off sleep patterns, they say.

But others want to make daylight savings permanent instead, arguing that brighter evenings, especially for those commuting from work or school, would reduce crime, save energy and even save lives in terms of fewer traffic accidents.

Both sides say their preferred option would be better for the economy.

Trump’s plan is not the first attempt to change the practice of changing the clocks every two years in the United States.

Making daylight saving time permanent was the goal of the 2022 bill that passed the Democratic-controlled Senate.

But the Sunlight Protection Act, which was introduced by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, never made it to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Rubio has since been tapped by Trump to serve as secretary of state in his incoming administration.

The US first started changing its clocks seasonally in 1918 during World War I to save fuel. It was not popular with farmers and was canceled after the war.

But daylight saving time returned again during World War II and became permanent in 1966, although states could opt out.

Hawaii and most of Arizona do not currently observe daylight saving time.

Research by Joan Costa y Font, a professor at the London School of Economics, found that daylight savings time has “adverse effects on sleep and physical health, as well as feelings of fatigue, stress, time pressure and mental health”.

Professor Costa y Font’s research has shown that in monetary terms it is the end of daylight saving time would increase economic output by €754 ($792; £627) per person per year.

Countries that have ended the practice include Mexico in 2022, although daylight saving time is still maintained in regions near the US border for economic and logistical reasons. Jordan also stopped practicing that year.

Others, like Turkey and Russia, have instead implemented permanent daylight saving time over the past decade.

In a Monmouth University survey, researchers found that approx two-thirds of the people in the US they want to make summer time permanent.