President Donald Trump has publicly disclosed what he identified as Republican Senator Tom Cotton’s personal phone number while criticizing the Arkansas senator over his opposition to legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the United States.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged Arkansas residents to contact Cotton and pressure him to support the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end the twice-yearly clock changes. The bill, which has passed the House, remains stalled in the Senate. Trump referred to the measure as the “We Don’t Want to Change Our Clocks Twice a Year Act” and argued that Americans should no longer have to adjust their clocks every spring and fall.
Trump also highlighted what he described as the benefits of having an additional hour of daylight in the afternoon, citing activities such as golf, tennis, hunting and farming. He argued that changing clocks twice a year is also costly and inconvenient, particularly in places where clocks are difficult to adjust, such as church steeples and municipal buildings.
Cotton defended his opposition to permanent Daylight Saving Time, arguing that Congress had previously adopted the policy only to reverse it after Americans experienced very late winter sunrises.
“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changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter. Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first,” Cotton wrote.
Trump responded by arguing that permanent Daylight Saving Time would give Americans more daylight in the afternoon while eliminating the need to change clocks twice a year.
“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 subsequently encouraged his followers to contact Cotton directly and promoted the phrase “LOCK THE CLOCK!” in support of the legislation.
The dispute follows the House’s passage of the Sunshine Protection Act by a 308-117 vote in July. The legislation would establish permanent Daylight Saving Time while allowing states to opt out and observe permanent standard time instead.
