Monday, October 5, 2026 - President Donald Trump has publicly shared what he identified as Republican Senator Tom Cotton’s personal phone number while criticising the Arkansas senator over his opposition to legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent in the United States.
Trump made the comments on Truth Social as he urged Arkansas
residents to pressure Cotton to support the Sunshine Protection Act, which has
passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate. Trump referred to the
legislation 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 twice
annually.
He also cited the benefits of having more daylight in the
afternoon for activities including golf, tennis, hunting and farming, while
arguing that changing clocks is costly, particularly at difficult-to-reach
locations such as church steeples and municipal buildings. Cotton, however,
defended his opposition to permanent Daylight Saving Time, saying the issue had
been considered before and that Congress had subsequently reversed course after
Americans experienced very late sunrises during winter.
“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Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans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 then responded to Cotton, arguing that permanent Daylight
Saving Time would provide more afternoon daylight while eliminating the need
for Americans to change their 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 urged his followers to contact Cotton
directly and used the phrase “LOCK THE CLOCK!” in promoting the legislation.
The dispute comes after the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act by a
308-117 vote in July. The measure would establish permanent Daylight Saving
Time, subject to provisions allowing states to opt out in favour of permanent
standard time
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