• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

3

Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

3

Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire
PoliticsDonald Trump

Trump says he’ll end daylight saving time: Here are the winners and losers if he does

By
Greg McKenna
Greg McKenna
News Fellow
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Greg McKenna
Greg McKenna
News Fellow
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 17, 2024, 10:54 AM ET
Donald Trump smiles and points out his right index finger to ring the bell of the New York Stock Exchange, surrounded by his entourage as his TIME "Person of the Year" cover is projected in the background.
Donald Trump looked happy ringing the bell of the NYSE, but he’s no fan of changing the clocks for daylight saving time. Spencer Platt—Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Like many Americans, Donald Trump is no fan of moving the clocks back an hour every November and moving them forward again come daylight saving time in March. Last Friday, the president-elect pledged he would end the practice once and for all.

Recommended Video

“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!” he wrote in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”

Originally introduced as an energy-saving measure in both World Wars, studies have cast doubt on whether the extra hour of daylight is worth the headache. Changing the clocks regularly draws criticism, and, earlier this month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said they want to target the practice as the leaders of Trump’s semiofficial Department of Government Efficiency.

It’s unclear if Trump, whose team did not respond to a request for comment, favors making daylight saving time permanent—which would result in more light in the afternoon—or keeping the country on standard time, which would mean more morning light. In 2022, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump has nominated to lead the State Department, cosponsored the Sunshine Protection Act, a now-stalled bipartisan bill that would have made daylight saving time permanent. Meanwhile, most health experts have the opposite preference.

The end of clock-shifting, meanwhile, would deliver real economic fallout for certain industries. If the Rubio version of the plan to keep the country on daylight saving time goes forward, here are the winners and losers.

Winners

Tourism

The equation is simple: More afternoon and evening daylight equals more visitors at monuments and other attractions. Speaking to National Geographic in 2011, Kurt Janson, policy director at the U.K.’s Tourism Alliance, said Britain’s tourism industry could experience a boost of £3.5 billion (then about $5.6 billion) per year if daylight saving time became permanent, citing data from a British think tank called the Policy Studies Institute. “In a nutshell, it would extend the spring and fall shoulder seasons for the tourism industry,” Janson said.

Retail

There’s a similar argument to be made for convenience retailers, who say customers also spend more when the sun stays out longer. Two years ago, an industry rep told a House committee that stores logged increased spending through daylight saving time. Meanwhile, a 2016 study from the JPMorgan Chase Institute found that consumer spending dropped 2.2% to 4.9%, depending on the city surveyed, after the switch back to standard time.

The stock market

From 2007 to 2022, the S&P 500 gained 7.5% on average during daylight saving time and just 2% for the rest of the year, according to an analysis from Bespoke Investment Group cited by Barron’s. Correlation does not equal causation, of course, but it seems Wall Street traders—like many Americans—don’t enjoy losing an hour of sleep when the clocks change. Researchers at the business schools of Kentucky, Georgia State, Arkansas, and Emory recently found capital markets participants are slower to respond to earnings news during the week after clocks “spring forward” on Mar. 10.

Losers

Your health

Medical groups like the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine say standard time better aligns with our circadian rhythm, or the natural rhythm of our bodies and minds every 24 hours. As the British Medical Journal noted last year, a string of studies suggests daylight saving time has been linked to an increase in heart attacks, strokes, and other health issues.

An updated analysis from Chmura Economics & Analytics estimated the annual economic cost of daylight saving time at $672 million, including roughly $375 million owing to increased heart attacks, $252 million from more strokes, $18 million from additional workplace injuries, and $27 million from an uptick in traffic accidents.

Morning commuters

The U.S. has made daylight saving time permanent before, with President Nixon signing the bill into law in December 1973 amid the oil crisis. During the winter, however, Americans soon soured on getting to work or school in the dark. Incidents of schoolchildren being struck and killed by vehicles became national news.

That included eight deaths in Florida, prompting the state’s governor, Reubin Askew, to ask Congress to repeal the measure. By October, President Ford had signed a bill to put the U.S. back on standard time for four months of the year. A switch to permanent daylight saving time would bring renewed grumbling from commuters and parents, especially those at the western edge of large time zones.

Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief. Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world’s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it. Sign up here.
About the Author
By Greg McKennaNews Fellow
LinkedIn icon

Greg McKenna is a news fellow at Fortune.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Politics

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Politics

U.S. aircraft attack Iran in response to drone strike on cargo ship that Tehran called ‘ceasefire management’ as both sides wrestle for Hormuz control
PoliticsIran
U.S. aircraft attack Iran in response to drone strike on cargo ship that Tehran called ‘ceasefire management’ as both sides wrestle for Hormuz control
By Collin Binkley, Jon Gambrell and The Associated PressJune 26, 2026
3 hours ago
Sam Altman and Donald Trump.
AIOpenAI
OpenAI agrees to stagger rollout of its most powerful model to only Trump-approved customers
By Eva Roytburg and Beatrice NolanJune 26, 2026
6 hours ago
gr
PoliticsElections
Anthropic and OpenAI waged a $27 million proxy war in a Manhattan congressional race. The winner told them both to get lost
By Sasha RogelbergJune 26, 2026
6 hours ago
z
PoliticsElections
A Brookings paper just accidentally explained Zohran Mamdani
By Nick LichtenbergJune 26, 2026
8 hours ago
One chart explains the economy’s terrible baby boomer hangover, Gen X’s invisibility, and millennial and Gen Z irrelevance
Economybaby boomers
One chart explains the economy’s terrible baby boomer hangover, Gen X’s invisibility, and millennial and Gen Z irrelevance
By Tristan BoveJune 26, 2026
9 hours ago
m
PoliticsNew York City
Mamdani lives up to campaign promise, freezing rent for about 1 million New Yorkers
By Anthony Izaguirre, Nick Lichtenberg and The Associated PressJune 26, 2026
9 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
2 days ago
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
Success
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 24, 2026
3 days ago
Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire
Economy
Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire
By Nick LichtenbergJune 26, 2026
18 hours ago
The bond market knows something about the $39 trillion national debt that Washington doesn’t
Economy
The bond market knows something about the $39 trillion national debt that Washington doesn’t
By Eva RoytburgJune 25, 2026
1 day ago
Trump turns on Big Oil donors who spent nearly $100 million to get him elected—now he wants the DOJ to investigate them for price gouging
Economy
Trump turns on Big Oil donors who spent nearly $100 million to get him elected—now he wants the DOJ to investigate them for price gouging
By Tristan BoveJune 25, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 25, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 25, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 25, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.