President Trump says the demands of the nation’s highest office have caught him by surprise.
In an interview with Reuters published Friday, Trump said the job was “more work” than he was used to.
“I loved my previous life. I had so many things going,” he told Reuters reporters. “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”
He made the remarks amid a busy week for the new administration. Trump is trying to pass both a massive tax overhaul and take another shot at repealing Obamacare all while tensions continue to simmer with North Korea.
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But Trump, who marks 100 days in office this weekend, has also made plenty of time to get away.
A New York Times analysis found that president spent 19 days at golf courses since taking office and spent about half his weekends at his private club in Palm Beach, Fla.
That’s more time away than former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton took during their first 100 days, according to the Times.
It’s not the first time Trump has expressed surprise at the gravity of his job. Earlier this week, he spoke in an AP interview about the scope of the responsibility he has.
“I never realized how big it was,” he said. “It’s massive. And every agency is, like, bigger than any company. So you know, I really just see the bigness of it all, but also the responsibility. And the human responsibility. You know, the human life that’s involved in some of the decisions.”
In the Reuters interview, Trump also expressed surprise at the lack of privacy he has now as commander-in-chief, a sentiment shared by previous presidents, though as a public figure for decades before leaving office Trump has long been under scrutiny.
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“You’re really into your own little cocoon, because you have such massive protection that you really can’t go anywhere,” Trump said.
Listen to audio from the interview:
LISTEN: Trump talks to @Reuters about missing his old life and how he thought his new job would be easier. https://t.co/pwklqp8H5H pic.twitter.com/E5A11ucFb2
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 28, 2017
Christina Prignano can be reached at christina.prignano@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @cprignano.