Fact Check

Don't fall for fake clip of Trump saying daylight saving time makes people 'die faster'

An audio clip purported to show Trump saying that when the clocks move forward, "Granny's dead, she lost an hour."

by Rae Deng, Published March 14, 2025


U.S. President Donald Trump, a white man with a dark tan and pale blonde hair wearing a dark suit and yellow tie, speaks with his hands crossed while seated in front of a U.S. flag and the U.S. seal.

Image courtesy of Getty Images


Claim:
An audio clip authentically features U.S. President Donald Trump saying daylight saving time must end because people "die faster" when the clock moves an hour forward.
Rating:
Fake

About this rating

Context

The clip is either a skilled imitation or the product of artificial intelligence technology. At the time of this writing, Trump's most recent public stance on daylight saving time was that it's a "50-50 issue."


In mid-March 2025, social media users began spreading an audio clip supposedly of U.S. President Donald Trump saying daylight saving time "has got to go" because people "die faster" when the clocks move forward.

Here is a full transcript of the audio clip:

Daylight savings — it's gotta go, it's gotta go. Imagine you're dying, you're on your deathbed, you only have a little while to live, and they turn the clocks forward. You die faster. Sorry kids, Granny's dead, she lost an hour. It's a disgrace. We've got to stop it, and we're going to stop it.

The clip primarily spread on TikTok — see videos here, here and here — although it also popped up on Instagram and Facebook. Some commenters seemed to believe the clip was real. Others online questioned its authenticity — including Snopes readers, who wrote in to ask about it.

@hospicenursepenny

Am I in an alternate reality?

♬ original sound — Magzsun?

Trump did not make these comments about daylight saving time. Thus, we rate this claim fake. It was not immediately clear whether the audio was the product of artificial intelligence (AI) software or a person skilled at imitating Trump.

The creator of the audio appeared to have been TikTok user @whmole, who deleted their account by the time of this writing. This user posted the clip and claimed it was "leaked Trump audio" from March 9, 2025, but provided no proof.

A Google search for direct quotations from the audio clip returned no results from reputable news outlets. If Trump had said the quote, it would have made headlines.

Many news outlets covered authentic comments Trump made about daylight saving time on March 6, when he described it as "a 50-50 issue" and said, "It's hard to get excited about it." A video clip of Trump's full March 6 comments on daylight saving time is available through NBC News' YouTube page:

 

Trump said in a December 2024 Truth Social post that he would end daylight saving time, calling it "inconvenient" and "very costly." However, his March comments made it appear that he was backtracking on that promise.


By Rae Deng

Grace Deng specializes in government/politics and is based in Tacoma, Wash.

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