Trump posts GOP lawmaker’s phone number amid spat over Daylight Saving Time

Trump Publicly Pressures Tom Cotton Over Year-Round Daylight Saving Time

Healfromzero.com – President Donald Trump intensified his push to end the twice-yearly clock change on Saturday, directing criticism at Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and posting the senator’s cellphone number online during their disagreement over Daylight Saving Time.

Trump argued that Cotton was preventing progress on legislation that would keep the nation on Daylight Saving Time throughout the year. The proposal, commonly known as the Sunshine Protection Act, has become a recurring subject of debate in Congress as lawmakers weigh the inconvenience of changing clocks against concerns about darker winter mornings.

“Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill. It’s called, ‘The Sunshine Protection Act’ or, ‘We Don’t Want to Change Our Clocks Twice a Year Act,’” Trump wrote.

In the same message, Trump urged Arkansas residents to contact Cotton and included the senator’s phone number. He described the bill as a potential bipartisan achievement for both the Senate and the country.

Calls to the number reached a full voicemail box at one point. Later, the line rang three times before an automated message said the wireless customer could not be reached. Cotton’s office was contacted for comment.

A Longstanding Debate in Congress

The House has already shown broad support for establishing permanent Daylight Saving Time. Members passed legislation over the summer by a 308-117 vote, but the Senate has not taken comparable action.

Trump has repeatedly objected to the ritual of moving clocks forward and backward each year. His position on which system should apply permanently, however, has varied over time. The current dispute centers on whether the country should remain on Daylight Saving Time year-round rather than return to standard time during winter.

Cotton has taken the opposite view, warning that permanent Daylight Saving Time could create especially dark early mornings during colder months. In 2025, he objected when a bipartisan group of senators sought unanimous consent to pass a similar measure.

“No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” Cotton wrote on X after Trump’s initial post.

“Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.”

The exchange reflected a broader policy divide that has remained unresolved despite widespread frustration with clock changes. Supporters say a permanent system would remove a disruptive routine that affects sleep schedules, household routines and workday timing. Opponents argue that selecting Daylight Saving Time instead of standard time could leave many communities facing winter sunrises after 8 a.m.

Trump Doubles Down

Trump answered Cotton with another social media post, disputing the senator’s claim that his position placed Arkansas first. He said keeping Daylight Saving Time would give people an added hour of evening light and avoid the hassle of resetting clocks in homes, farms and workplaces.

“If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run all over their houses, farms, work places, and everywhere else, twice a year, having to change their Clocks, and often forgetting to do so,” Trump wrote.

Trump attached a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp that expressed the organization’s support for the Sunshine Protection Act. The letter added another prominent voice to the effort to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

Before leaving the White House for a Republican midterm election rally in Ohio, Trump declined to explain why he had published Cotton’s number. Instead, he returned to his argument that the time change causes widespread confusion.

“(People) don’t want to have to go around changing clocks. I had the same thing last time, six months ago, we’re changing clocks, and nobody changed the clocks and everybody’s late,” Trump said.

“It makes people — it discombobulates everybody.”

Security Concerns Raised

Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas criticized Trump’s decision to share the number, saying it could expose Cotton to security risks. Castro, who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said publicly revealing a personal cellphone number could make a device more vulnerable to outside actors.

“Really, all they need is your number,” Castro said. “And then they’re sophisticated enough to be able to do it.”

Castro said the disclosure put Cotton “at risk of harm,” mentioning the possibility that China, Russia or a non-state actor could seek to compromise the device.

The incident was not Trump’s first public disclosure of a senator’s personal phone number. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he read Sen. Lindsey Graham’s cellphone number to a rally crowd while the two were competing for the party’s nomination.

What Is at Stake in the Time-Change Fight

For advocates of permanent Daylight Saving Time, the appeal is straightforward: Americans would no longer need to adjust clocks twice annually. They contend that the switches can disturb children’s sleep patterns and may worsen seasonal depression for some people.

Critics focus on the winter consequences. Later winter sunrises could affect morning commutes, school schedules and agricultural work, with farmers among those concerned about the practical effects of reduced early-morning daylight. The debate is therefore not simply about convenience; it is also about how daylight is distributed across the day in different seasons and regions.

Trump closed his criticism of Cotton with a direct appeal for the senator to support the bill.

“TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN!” Trump wrote. “YOU NEED IT, AND SO DOES OUR BELOVED REPUBLICAN PARTY!”