Dana Perino on lessons learned from the White House, Fox News hosts and longtime husband

USA Today

15-04-2025

Dana Perino on lessons learned from the White House, Fox News hosts and longtime husband
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Fox News' Dana Perino talks about the election
Fox News' Dana Perino talks about the idea that Americans are divided, ahead of the RNC starting.
Dana Perino beats her 4:45 a.m. alarm every morning by two minutes. And it's easy to see why.
The 52-year-old Fox News host for "America's Newsroom" and "The Five" has no time to waste. She anchors the news. She races on her Peloton bike. She ballroom dances.
You name it, Perino, who previously served as President George W. Bush's press secretary, is probably doing it. But she didn't get to be her best self on her own. She's giving credit to the people and advice that have shaped her in a new book called "I Wish Someone Had Told Me ... " (Fox News Books, 263 pp., out April 22). Part-memoir, part self-help book, it features words from Fox News personalities like Bret Baier, Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters and Jeanine Pirro, plus journalist Salena Zito, novelist Patti Callahan Henry and Perino's husband, businessman Peter McMahon.
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A day in the life for Dana Perino
OK, back to that morning routine. After her early wake-up, Perino mediates or prays. Then she switches to checking for breaking news, something she says happens more often with the Trump administration than the Biden administration.
Next, her morning involves movement (diet and exercise advice peppers her book). Anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes of pedaling on her Peloton and a mix of strength training or yoga. She listens to several podcasts on rotation while getting ready for her first call of the day at 6:45 a.m., after which she heads into the studio to finish prep for "Newsroom," which she hosts with Bill Hemmer.
In between her shows, she either pauses for a private Pilates session or takes a ballroom dancing class while also preparing for "The Five." Even when life appointments get in the way, Perino is walking and calling friends and sources or checking out another podcast.
"In the news hour, I am asking questions and trying to get sources to give us something interesting," she says. "For 'The Five,' I have to give my analysis or my opinion, and I have to bring energy."
After work, she rushes home. She only goes out one night per week, advice from Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott that's included in the book. Perino sings her praises about her ability to manage life and career.
Once home, Perino and McMahon only eat healthy meals; they never order in. Yes, even in New York. He always cooks and she helps a bit with the dishes – "my husband will laugh about that," she quips – before watching an hour of TV, choosing an outfit for the next day.
Perino is tucked into bed by 9 p.m. and reading a novel (right now that's Jojo Moyes' latest, "We All Live Here") before drifting off. She avoids checking her phone, or at least tries, and is asleep by 9:30 p.m.
Whew.
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Dana Perino says 'we are not as polarized in practice'
How does Perino accomplish it all and stay sane? For starters, she limits her time to two hours on Instagram per day, but she says she's cutting that back to an hour. She's posting on TikTok and trying to connect to a Gen Z audience, but knows "The Five" viewers span all ages.
"You have families across generations who are watching it, some of them at the same time," she says. "There was this one family – I didn't keep in touch with them, I wish I had – the grandmother lived in Virginia, and the kids lived in California, and they would get on FaceTime and watch 'The Five' together."
When Perino thinks of them, she tries "to keep in mind when I'm talking on 'The Five' or even on social media, that there are a lot of different people that might be willing to listen to something that I might say. It might be an important point that I think is newsworthy. It might just be something fun and entertaining. And I think one thing I have learned about myself, and since leaving the White House and coming to Fox, it has kind of taken me a few years, is that having fun and a little bit of lightness to life is not a bad quality. It's not superfluous."
That's another key theme to the book. What actually matters in life?
Not political partisanship, in her eyes. It's about stepping up in your community.
"I actually believe that we are not as polarized in practice as we talk about in the media or in theory," she says. "I think communities actually get along quite well."
So with so much packed into her life, is there anything more she wants?
"The only thing I really wish for right now is more time, because I have a lot I want to fit into my days in my life, and I would buy anyone's extra minutes if they were selling them," Perino says. "But the most bipartisan thing that we all share is that we all get the same amount of time in a day."