“¿Qué hora es?” “La que usted diga, señor presidente.” “What time is it?” “Whatever time you say, Mr. President.” Mexican columnists quote the exchange as a well-known maxim. In 2020, a guest column in Expansión applied it to judges who follow the president.
The columns give no origin for it, and none ties it to a particular president. A variant ends la que usted mande, “whatever time you order.”