Marco Rubio Reveals Trump's Sleepless Flights Make Air Force One an Endurance Test
Traveling overseas with President Donald Trump has become more than just a diplomatic mission—it's a grueling test of physical endurance. Even his own secretary of state, Marco Rubio, openly admits that keeping pace with a commander-in-chief who barely sleeps can be more challenging than negotiating complex international agreements.
The Blanket Strategy for Survival
In a remarkably candid interview with New York Magazine, Rubio pulled back the curtain on what life is really like aboard Air Force One during those marathon international journeys. He revealed that power naps require careful planning, strategic camouflage, and a blanket that transforms him into what he describes as "a mummy."
Rubio explained that traveling with the 79-year-old president makes it exceptionally difficult to catch any sleep because Trump "practically never" sleeps himself. Instead, the president regularly walks through the aircraft to see which staff members are still awake and available for impromptu discussions.
"There's an office with two couches, and I usually want to sleep on one of those two couches," Rubio told the magazine. "But what I do is I cocoon myself in a blanket. I cover my head. I look like a mummy."
The Fear of Being Seen as Weak
Washington correspondent Ben Terris reported that Rubio then demonstrated his technique, "mimed pulling a blanket over his body as if he were auditioning for a Snuggie commercial." This elaborate disguise serves a specific psychological purpose according to the secretary of state.
"I do that because I know that at some point on the flight, he's going to emerge from the cabin and start prowling the hallways to see who is awake," Rubio continued. "I want him to think it's a staffer who fell asleep. I don't want him to see his Secretary of State sleeping on a couch and think, 'Oh, this guy is weak.'"
Other Officials Confirm the Pattern
Rubio is not the first official to describe Trump's extraordinary stamina during overseas travel. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard characterized Trump as "absolutely tireless" in an October interview with Fox News.
"I know somebody made a comment on the plane, you know, [that] he goes on these long trips, these long plane rides, doesn't sleep, he's working throughout those flights, hits the ground running and gets directly to business," she said.
CNN's chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins received similar accounts from her sources. "I had this source who said you never want to be on Air Force One on a trip," Collins previously told podcaster Jason Tartick. "He doesn't sleep on these trips. And like, you're going to Asia or something, and that's kind of the only time you're going to sleep before you go on this trip, but Trump is just always up and talking, and he'll like have them go and wake staff up if they're asleep because he wants to talk to them."
The Irony of Public Napping
These revelations about Trump's sleepless flights come with particular irony, as the president has been observed drifting off to sleep during several public events in recent months. When asked about those public napping episodes, Rubio offered an unexpected defense: "It's a listening mechanism," he told New York Magazine.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday regarding these accounts of presidential sleep patterns and their impact on staff during international travel.
