Donald Trump's Late-Night Calls to Mike Johnson Part of Nocturnal White House Pattern

House Speaker Mike Johnson may have one of the busiest phones in Washington, but when President Donald Trump calls late at night, he answers.

A Wall Street Journal feature has revealed the scale of the Louisiana Republican’s daily communications load, including 1,477 unread text messages and 829 unheard voicemails. But Johnson said Trump’s calls cut through everything, even when they come deep into the night.

Johnson told the Journal that Trump often starts the conversation with a familiar question.

“‘Mikey, are you sleeping?’”

Johnson said he usually replies, “No, not really.”

Then, imitating Trump, he added, “‘Yes, you are, Mike. I can always tell when you’re sleeping.’”

Johnson said his answer is simple: “I’m up now. What do you got? What’s going on?”

The exchange offered a glimpse at Johnson’s role as one of Trump’s most important congressional allies, and at the president’s late-night rhythm in his second term.

Trump, 80, is known for posting on Truth Social into the early morning hours, sometimes staying active until 2 or 3 a.m. before returning hours later. According to Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, aides sometimes struggled to reach Trump between 8 and 10 a.m. and came to understand that it meant he had stayed up all night “on the phone or watching television or both.”

Indeed, Trump’s official schedule frequently has “Executive Time” listed in the 8 a.m. slot.

Haberman and Swan wrote that Trump has “never been a big sleeper,” but staff believed he was “sleeping even less” in his second term.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently said on “The Katie Miller Podcast” that Trump had called him as late as 2 a.m. while they were campaigning and working together. In the previous month, Burgum said the latest call came at 11:45 p.m.

“President Trump’s always very polite,” Burgum said. “The first question he always asks is: I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

Burgum said the earliest call he had received from Trump in the last month came at 8 a.m.

Kid Rock, whose real name is Bob Ritchie, told Sky News Australia that he often calls Trump late at night after a few drinks just to “shoot the s---.”

“If I’m sitting around having some beers, if it’s like 11, 12 on a Friday or Saturday, I know he’s up,” Rock said. “He sleeps like me, he sleeps five hours.”

The musician said their calls are not about policy.

“He’s not calling me to [ask], ‘Hey, what should we do in Iran, Bob?’” Rock said.