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

Trump Escalates Daylight Saving Time Dispute With Sen. Tom Cotton

Earthguardiansonline.com – President Donald Trump publicly intensified his disagreement with Sen. Tom Cotton on Saturday, urging Arkansans to contact the Republican senator after accusing him of blocking legislation that would keep the nation on Daylight Saving Time throughout the year.

In posts on Truth Social, Trump promoted the Sunshine Protection Act, a proposal intended to end the twice-yearly clock changes. His posts included Cotton’s cellphone number and described the Arkansas senator, whom Trump called a friend, as an obstacle to a measure he portrayed as broadly popular.

“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 argued that passage would represent a major bipartisan achievement for the Senate and the country. When calls were placed to the number shared in the post, Cotton’s voicemail box was full. Later, the phone rang three times before an automated recording said the wireless customer was unavailable. Cotton’s office was asked for comment.

A Long-Running Debate Over the Clock

The dispute centers on whether the United States should retain its current practice of switching between standard time and Daylight Saving Time each year. Supporters of permanent Daylight Saving Time say the change would eliminate the inconvenience of resetting clocks and could reduce disruptions to daily routines, especially for families with young children. They also argue that the seasonal shift can affect sleep patterns and mental well-being.

Critics, however, have raised concerns about very late winter sunrises. In some major American cities, making Daylight Saving Time permanent could push sunrise beyond 8 a.m. during parts of winter. Those conditions are a particular concern for schoolchildren, commuters and agricultural workers whose routines depend heavily on morning light.

The House has already shown strong support for year-round Daylight Saving Time. Over the summer, lawmakers approved related legislation by a 308-117 vote. The Senate has not acted on the matter, leaving the proposal without a clear path to becoming law.

Trump has opposed the semiannual time change for years, though he has at different times expressed differing views on whether permanent standard time or permanent Daylight Saving Time would be preferable.

Cotton Defends His Position

Cotton has consistently resisted changing the current arrangement. In 2025, he objected when a bipartisan group of senators attempted to pass a comparable measure through unanimous consent.

After Trump’s initial post Saturday, Cotton explained his reasoning in a message on X, arguing that the country had tried permanent Daylight Saving Time before and later reversed course.

“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,”

He said Arkansas families do not want children traveling to school before daylight has arrived.

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

Trump answered with another Truth Social post, rejecting Cotton’s claim that maintaining the current system best serves the state. He argued that permanent Daylight Saving Time would provide more evening daylight and spare people the repeated task of adjusting clocks at home, on farms and in workplaces.

Trump attached a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp that expressed the tour’s support for the Sunshine Protection Act. The president later repeated his criticism while leaving the White House for a Republican midterm election rally in Ohio.

“(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,”

He said the clock changes create widespread confusion.

“It makes people — it discombobulates everybody.”

Concerns About Sharing a Personal Number

Trump’s decision to publish Cotton’s number also prompted criticism over possible security and privacy implications. Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said sharing a senator’s personal number could expose Cotton to potential harm.

Castro said the number could make the device a target for foreign governments or non-state actors, mentioning China and Russia as possible threats. He argued that sophisticated attackers may need only a phone number to begin attempting to compromise a device.

The episode is not the first time Trump has publicly revealed the personal contact information of a sitting senator. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he read Sen. Lindsey Graham’s cellphone number aloud at a rally while the two were competing for the party’s nomination.

Political Pressure and an Unresolved Senate Question

Trump’s final message to Cotton framed the time-change bill as both a policy goal and a political opportunity for Republicans.

“TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN!”

“YOU NEED IT, AND SO DOES OUR BELOVED REPUBLICAN PARTY!”

For now, the practical question remains unresolved in the Senate: whether ending clock changes would offer enough public benefit to outweigh concerns about darker winter mornings. The House vote demonstrated significant bipartisan interest, but Cotton’s opposition illustrates why the proposal still faces resistance among senators.

Until Congress acts, Americans will continue to move their clocks forward in spring and back in fall, a familiar ritual that remains unpopular with many voters but politically complicated to replace.