TV host Jimmy Kimmel has challenged President Donald Trump to fulfill his past promise to abolish daylight saving time. Kimmel noted this is a rare chance for the president to do something that is both “dumb” and popular with the American public.

During the March 10, 2025, episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the host pointed out how President Trump seems to be hesitating on his earlier pledge to end the biannual clock change, which many Americans find disruptive.

“Trump is ‘firing air traffic controllers, screwing up our national parks, threatening to annex Canada, focusing on all these dumb things, and not just dumb things, unpopular things,'” Kimmel remarked. “Why not focus on a dumb popular thing and do away with this ridiculous clock change twice a year? Set the clock and leave it be. Give the people what we want!”

Kimmel’s remarks came as Americans adjusted their clocks forward, losing an hour of sleep. The practice has faced growing criticism, with many experts questioning its benefits.

President Trump had previously criticized daylight saving time as “inconvenient and very costly for our Nation” in a December 2024 Truth Social post. Yet, he has taken no concrete action on the matter since beginning his second term in January 2025.

Recently, Trump adopted a more neutral stance, recognizing that opinions on daylight saving time are divided among Americans. “It’s a 50-50 issue,” Trump noted, indicating the difficulty in generating enthusiasm for changing the system.

The debate over daylight saving time highlights both regional and political differences. Many of Trump’s Republican colleagues, including Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio of Florida, have supported making daylight saving time permanent through the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act. The golf industry has also lobbied for maintaining daylight saving time, as it benefits their evening leagues.

However, health experts generally recommend eliminating the practice and switching to permanent standard time, citing evidence that clock changes and misalignment with natural light cycles can disrupt sleep and potentially lead to health issues.

Polls show that about 62% of Americans want to end the practice of changing clocks twice a year. However, there is less agreement on what should replace the current system, with opinions split between permanent daylight saving time and permanent standard time.

In 2022, the Senate unanimously approved legislation to make daylight saving time permanent, but the measure stalled in the House of Representatives due to opposition from groups like the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which warned about the potential negative health impacts of permanent daylight saving time.

In his monologue, Kimmel noted that a majority of California voters had already voted to abolish daylight saving time, yet it remains in effect. He suggested that this issue presents a rare opportunity for President Trump to take action that would be popular across party lines.

“You wanna make America great again? End this daylight saving madness forever, Mr. President,” Kimmel stated. “I dare you!”

The audience responded with cheers, but Kimmel expressed doubt that any change would happen. “We’ll do this all over again next year,” he predicted. 

The Department of Transportation, which manages daylight saving time in the U.S., cites energy reduction and reduced crime as reasons for maintaining both standard and daylight saving time. However, research on these benefits has been mixed, with some studies suggesting that daylight saving time may increase energy consumption and have limited impact on crime rates.

Currently, Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii are the only states that do not observe daylight saving time. Other states have passed legislation expressing their preference to remain on either permanent daylight saving time or permanent standard time, but changes to permanent daylight saving time would require congressional approval. States can switch to permanent standard time without federal authorization.

Elon Musk, a key adviser to President Trump, has also commented on the issue, asking users on his social media platform X about their preferences regarding daylight saving time. This indicates that the administration may be gauging public opinion before making any policy decisions.

While the political debate continues, sleep experts and health officials generally favor making standard time permanent, as it would align better with the body’s natural circadian rhythms. In contrast, making daylight saving time permanent could lead to darker mornings during winter, affecting commutes and school start times.

President Trump would not be able to unilaterally end daylight saving time, as changes to the current system would require an act of Congress. With a narrow Republican majority in Congress and no clear consensus on a path forward, significant changes to daylight saving time appear unlikely in the immediate future, despite Kimmel’s passionate plea.