President Donald Trump has surprised federal employees with an early holiday treat by granting them two extra days off during the Christmas season.

On Thursday, Trump revealed he had signed an order that would allow federal workers to enjoy holidays on both Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas.

The official directive stated, “All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed, and their employees excused from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, the day before and the day following Christmas Day, respectively.”

While it is customary for past presidents to offer either December 24 or December 26 as an extra holiday for federal employees, it’s uncommon to see both days granted.

In his first term, Trump consistently gave federal employees Christmas Eve off for three consecutive years, a gesture that President Joe Biden has continued.

In 2014, under the Obama administration, Christmas fell on a Thursday and the president opted instead to give workers December 26 off, leading into the weekend. 

Trump’s announcement comes after a record-breaking 43-day government shutdown earlier this year, during which federal employees were either told not to come to work, or forced to show up each day without pay. 

The shutdown left 42 million Americans with no access to their SNAP benefits, forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights and left more than a million federal workers without an income. 

Trump announced on Thursday that he had signed an order ensuring federal employees would get both Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas off from work

President Donald Trumphas delivered a Christmasgift to federal employees with an additional two federal holidays

Certain agencies and departments will still have the authority to demand employees show up to work on December 24 and 26 for operational purposes under the order. 

His announcement also comes on the back of outspoken criticism about the number of national holidays.

Back in June, right before Juneteenth, Trump wrote on Truth Social: ‘Too many non-working holidays in America. It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed.

‘The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’

After that, he adjusted the National Park Service’s free entrance days, removing both Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day from the approved list.

The National Park Service instead added Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, the 110th Birthday of the National Park Service, Constitution Day, and Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday to the list of approved free entrance days. 

Flag Day, which falls on Trump’s birthday of July 14th, was also made free.

The holiday proclamation was one of several executive orders Trump revealed on Thursday, earlier announcing relaxed regulations on marijuana despite pushback within his party.

While past presidents have nominated to give either December 24 or December 26 as an additional holiday for federal workers, it is rare to announce both

‘I promised to be the president of common sense and that is exactly what we are doing,’ Trump said. 

He said that ‘so many people’ reached out to him to endorse the idea, particularly from people suffering from the pain as a result of cancer. 

‘It doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape or form,’ he said. ‘And in no way sanctions it’s use for a recreational drug,’ Trump said. 

The president pointedly repeated his opposition to the use of illegal drugs.

‘I always told my kids don’t take drugs,’ Trump said, telling America’s youth to ‘just don’t do it.’

Trump’s executive order reclassifies marijuana from a Schedule I drug with ‘no currently accepted medical use’ to a Schedule III drug, primarily to free up the plant allowing it to be researched.

Marijuana business stocks spiked on Wall Street as news of the president’s decision on the issue was made public.

Traditional conservatives are generally not supportive of legalizing or streamlining any use of marijuana, warning of the societal and health consequences of doing so.

Several House Republicans protested the president’s decision, issuing a letter on Thursday morning warning Trump from sending the wrong message on marijuana.