President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Tom Cotton in a series of messages Saturday, accusing the Arkansas Republican of delaying a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent and encouraging people to call the senator at his cellphone number.
“Everyone 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 posted on Truth Social.
“To the great people of Arkansas, let your senator know that this would be a BIG, bipartisan VICTORY for the United States Senate and for America itself,” Trump said, pointing to the senator’s phone number.
Cotton’s voicemail was full when CNN called the number. Later, the phone rang three times before an automated voice indicated that the “wireless client” was unavailable. CNN has reached out to Cotton’s office for comment.
House members overwhelmingly supported a measure that would establish year-round daylight saving time nationwide, passing legislation over the summer by a vote of 308 to 117. But the Senate has not moved on the issue since.
Trump has long criticized the biannual clock change, although his position on whether the country should stay on standard time or daylight saving time throughout the year has changed over time.
Cotton, for its part, opposed any change in the status quo. In 2025, he opposed a bipartisan group of senators who sought unanimous consent to pass a similar daylight saving time measure.
“No one likes to change the clock, including me, but Congress has already passed permanent daylight saving time several times and repealed it each time when Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” Cotton posted on X shortly after Trump’s first message. “Arkansans don’t want their children going to school in total darkness, and I will always put Arkansas first.”
Trump later responded to Cotton in another article on Truth Social.
“If Tom Cotton prioritized Arkansas, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run around their homes, farms, workplaces and everywhere else, twice a year, changing clocks and often forgetting to do so,” Trump wrote, attaching a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp sent to him this week expressing the Tour’s “strong support for the Sunshine Protection Act.”
Asked by CNN on Saturday why he posted Cotton’s number on social media, Trump refused to answer and doubled down on his criticism of daylight saving time.
“(People) don’t want to have to change the time. I had the same thing last time, six months ago, we change the time, and no one has changed the time and everyone is late,” Trump said just before leaving the White House to attend a Republican midterm rally in Ohio. “It makes people – it confuses everyone.”
Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, who serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told CNN on Saturday that Trump put Cotton “in danger” by sharing his cellphone number, pointing to “the possibility of China, Russia or a non-state actor hacking” the device.
“Really, all they need is your number,” Castro said. “And then they’re sophisticated enough to be able to do it.”
Supporters of permanent daylight saving time say it would save Americans from having to change clocks, disrupting young children’s sleep schedules and arguably causing more seasonal depression. But critics say it could have economic consequences, particularly for farmers who would have to deal with later sunrises. If daylight saving time were made permanent, the sun could rise after 8 a.m. in many major U.S. cities during the winter months.
“TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN!” » Trump wrote. “YOU NEED IT, AND OUR BELOVED REPUBLIC PARTY TOO!” »
This is not the first time Trump has revealed the number of a sitting senator. He read Sen. Lindsey Graham’s personal cell phone number at a crowded rally as the two were running in the 2016 GOP presidential primary.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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