Trump leaks Tom Cotton’s cell number in fury over stalled daylight saving time bill
WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump has revived an old tactic from the political rivalry playbook as he ramps up his attacks on Senate “friend” Tom Cotton.
The 80-year-old president, in a fit of rage, posted Cotton’s cellphone number on Truth Social, lashing out at the Republican senator for blocking legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent.
The House passed its version of the bill in July by a vote of 308–117, garnering bipartisan support. The bill was then referred to a Senate committee but has yet to be taken up.
Trump urges Tom Cotton to back daylight saving time
While referring to Cotton as “a friend,” Trump sharply criticized the Arkansas senator for being the main holdout on the proposed Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent across the country.
“Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill,” Trump wrote on Saturday morning on Truth Social, referring to the Sunshine Protection Act.
“For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one! It should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion.”
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump is calling out Sen. Tom Cotton by name for holding up the Sunshine Protection Act, which 47 supports to STOP THE CLOCK CHANGES "For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it's very easy to do, it only takes one!" Trump says the bill passed the House by a vote of 308 to 117 He is asking Arkansas voters to tell Cotton to "GET IT DONE!" and says the PGA TOUR, golfers, hunters, and farmers all want more daylight in the afternoon! "HAVE THE SENATE VOTE, NOW!" Time to see the writing on the wall. This is the most popular route! PASS IT ☀️ Florida’s wanted it for years!
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 3, 2026
“To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself. Call Tom on his cellphone,” the president continued before sharing the phone number. “Let him know.”
Trump has used this tactic before. In 2015, during a heated Republican presidential primary race, he famously released the personal cellphone number of the late Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
Trump pushes for permanent daylight saving time
The US briefly experimented with permanent, year-round daylight saving time in the 1970s but eventually returned to the twice-yearly clock change.
In recent years, calls to make daylight saving time permanent have gained momentum, with Trump advocating for the move.
He has argued that it could help “decrease Robbery and Murder Rates, Reduce Car Accidents (especially those involving Pedestrians!), Lower Risk for Cardiac Issues, Stroke, and Seasonal Depression,” among several other benefits he attributes to having more daylight in the evening.
Speaking to reporters at the White House before boarding Marine One for a trip to Ohio, Trump reiterated his argument that Americans are fed up with changing their clocks twice a year.
"We want to get away from this ridiculous way and custom of, every twice a year, turning your clocks back, turning your clocks forward, being late for dinner, being late for very important meetings," Trump said. "It's ridiculous."
Trump said Americans want more daylight in the evening and argued that the twice-yearly time change is costly and disruptive.
"People want to have light in the evening," Trump said. "But really, what they want more than that, more than that by a lot, they don't want to have to go around changing clocks."
Tom Cotton defends opposition to clock changes
When asked about Trump's post, Cotton’s office referred to a statement the senator had shared on social media.
In it, he wrote: “No one likes changing the clock, me included,” but argued that Congress had previously enacted permanent daylight saving time several times, only to repeal it after 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,” the senator concluded.
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.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) October 3, 2026
Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, has emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of making daylight saving time permanent.
He has warned that eliminating the twice-yearly clock change could leave children heading to school and millions of Americans commuting to work in darkness during winter mornings.
“If permanent daylight saving time becomes the law of the land, it will again make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans,” he said last year.
