While most travelers try to catch a few hours of sleep during long flights, US President Donald Trump says he likes to stay awake and keep his eyes on the sky.
Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, Trump said he never sleeps on Air Force One during foreign trips, even on flights that last 20 hours. He joked that he spends his time looking out the window to keep an eye on potential dangers. ‘I don’t sleep on planes. I don’t like sleeping on planes… I like looking out the window, there are no missiles or enemies coming from anywhere.’ Trump recounted this incident while recalling a trip to Iraq during his first presidential term, when he went to review the US military campaign against ISIS.
According to him, after landing, a senior military officer advised him to rest before the briefing. ‘He said if you want to rest, it was a 20-hour trip, we have rooms ready for you.’ I said, no, no, I don’t need to sleep. I don’t sleep on the plane. President Trump also used the opportunity to introduce retired US Army General Daniel ‘Raison’ Cain, who is credited with playing a key role in the defeat of ISIS. Trump said he insisted on starting the briefing immediately after landing. ‘I said, no, no, let’s start right away.’
Donald Trump has boasted about his lack of sleep in the past and often says that he only gets 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night.During the 2016 election campaign, he said that he is not a big sleeper, he likes 3 or 4 hours of sleep. According to Trump’s former aides, long flights with him are not comfortable at all.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revealed how he hides to sleep during flights with Trump. In an interview with New York Magazine in January, Rubio said that he hides himself by covering himself with a blanket on a couch on the plane.
According to him, Trump usually stays awake throughout the flight and even walks around the plane. Rubio said he wraps himself in a blanket. “I even cover my head, I look like a mummy.” He said it’s all done intentionally because at some point during the flight, the president comes out of his cabin to see who’s awake. According to Rubio, he thinks it’s better for the president to think of him sleeping as a staff member, not as secretary of state. “I don’t want him to see his secretary of state sleeping on the couch and think this guy is weak.”
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