US3 min(s) read
Truth behind rumors that circulated suggesting President Trump had proposed a 3-day working week
Despite rumors circulating online that Donald Trump was planning on introducing a three-day working week, it appears that those touted plans have been shelved, for now at least.
After gaining traction on social media, with searches for "Trump three day work week" surging in recent weeks, videos and posts claiming the US president had approved a 32-hour working week spread drastically.
Rumor down to misinformation
The misinformation comes at a time when the future of the traditional working week remains a major talking point.
Countries around the world have been trialling four-day working weeks, while growing concerns over workplace stress, burnout, and demands for greater flexibility have fueled calls for shorter working hours.
The latest wave of false claims appears to have resurfaced on TikTok, where videos posted between late September and October alleged that Trump had introduced either a three-day or 32-hour working week.
Some of the clips featured AI-generated news presenters announcing the fabricated policy, while others recycled footage originally shared earlier in the year.
The rumor first gained widespread attention in April after an X user claimed in a viral post that Congress had passed legislation limiting the standard work week to 32 hours. The post went on to attract more than two million views.
A month later, a TikTok creator posted a video making similar claims, which was viewed more than 11 million times before multiple news organisations debunked it.
Although interest in the story faded after fact-checkers confirmed it was false, the claim has since re-emerged across social media.
Where did the misinformation derive from?
Some confusion may have stemmed from a genuine proposal introduced in January by a group of progressive congressional staffers, who suggested implementing a 32-hour working week for employees on Capitol Hill.
However, the divisive proposal only applied to congressional staff, not the wider US workforce, and it was withdrawn just one day after being introduced following criticism.
According to research from Google's DeepMind, creating realistic-looking fake images, videos, and audio has become one of the most common forms of generative AI misuse, outpacing many other types of AI-generated misinformation.
Responding directly to the viral claims, X's AI assistant Grok stated: "The claim that Trump is making the standard work week 32 hours with no taxes on overtime is not true.
"There's no evidence of such a policy from Trump. The idea likely stems from a separate proposal, the 32-Hour Workweek Act, introduced in 2023, which hasn't passed and isn't linked to him."
Data released by the American Psychological Association's Work in America survey found that 22 percent of respondents in 2024 said their employer offered a four-day working week.
With the length of a working week, and emphasis on work-life balance becoming increasingly important to workers, organisation 4 Day Week Global, which coordinates four-day workweek trials around the world, reported that participating companies saw a 42 percent decrease in employee resignations alongside a 36 percent increase in revenue, adding to the evidence that shorter working weeks can benefit both employers and staff.
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.jpg_KxNZRz?tr=cr-0.0.1024.683,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
.jpg_xKEaT0?tr=cr-0.328.2730.3058,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
.jpg_xKEaT0?tr=cr-0.328.2730.3058,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
