US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Saturday his intention to abolish daylight saving time (DST), describing the practice of adjusting clocks twice a year as both "inconvenient" and "very costly" for Americans.

Daylight saving time, which involves moving clocks forward in spring and back in fall to maximize daylight during warmer months, is currently observed in most US states and several countries worldwide. Critics argue that the practice is outdated and disruptive, with limited benefits in modern times.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump pledged that his administration, along with the Republican Party, would make eliminating DST a key priority. "The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time," Trump wrote. "It has a small but strong constituency, but it’s inconvenient and very costly to our Nation."

Trump's cabinet is expected to include several prominent opponents of DST, including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who is reportedly nominated as Secretary of State. Rubio has been a vocal critic of the practice, referring to it as a "stupid" relic. In 2022, he introduced the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill aimed at making daylight saving time permanent, but it stalled in Congress after passing the Senate.

Other Trump allies, such as tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and Indian-American businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, have also expressed opposition to clock changes. On X (formerly Twitter), Musk criticized DST as "annoying," while Ramaswamy called it "inefficient and easy to eliminate." Both have been tapped by Trump to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which will focus on reforming federal bureaucracy.

Daylight saving time was first introduced in the US during World War I as a fuel-saving measure, repealed shortly afterward, and reintroduced during World War II. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act standardized DST nationwide, though states were allowed to opt out. Today, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time.

Under current rules, Americans observe "daylight time" from March to November and "standard time" from November to March. If Trump's proposal moves forward, it could mark the end of over a century of biannual clock adjustments. However, it remains unclear whether his administration would prefer sticking to permanent standard time or making daylight saving time the year-round norm.