In 60 seconds: President Trump posted what he said is Sen. Tom Cotton's personal cellphone number on Truth Social on Saturday, urging Arkansans to call and pressure the Republican into dropping his opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent. Cotton refused to budge, saying Arkansas parents don't want their kids walking to school in the pitch dark.
- On Saturday, Trump posted the number he said belongs to Sen. Tom Cotton — 479-453-0533 — and told Arkansans to "Call Tom on his cellphone" over the Sunshine Protection Act.
- Reporters who dialed it reached a voicemail box that didn't identify itself as Cotton's; CNN reported the box was full.
- Cotton fired back on X: Congress has tried permanent daylight saving before and repealed it after "absurdly late sunrises" — and "I'll always put Arkansas first."
- The House passed the bill 308–117 on July 14, but the Senate has never voted. Without action, clocks fall back on November 1.
A sitting U.S. senator's personal phone number, posted by the president, with instructions for voters to call it. The issue: whether Americans ever have to change their clocks again.
What happened
On Saturday, Trump took his fight with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to Truth Social, accusing the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman of blocking the Sunshine Protection Act, which would lock the country on daylight saving time year-round.
"Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill," Trump wrote. "It's called, 'The Sunshine Protection Act' or, 'We Don't Want to Change Our Clocks Twice a Year Act.' For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill — and in the Senate, it only takes one! To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN. Call Tom on his cellphone. Let him know."
He attached the number, closed with "HAVE THE SENATE VOTE, NOW!" — his second post in two days targeting Cotton — and answered the senator's X reply with a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp supporting it: "TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN!"
Latest verified facts
The number flooded within hours: Reuters reached a voicemail box that didn't identify itself as Cotton's, and CNN reported the box was full. Whether it's his is unconfirmed — his office didn't respond.
Cotton's X reply didn't mention Trump or the number: "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."
Last fall, Sens. Rick Scott, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Tommy Tuberville tried to pass a similar measure by unanimous consent, and Cotton objected — without it, the bill needs 60 votes and a recorded vote. He isn't alone: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) called the bill "dead as disco" this week. On Trump's side, the House passed H.R. 139 on July 14 by 308–117, the White House says Trump would sign it, and PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp's Oct. 1 letter claims permanent daylight saving would mean 23 million more golf rounds and $1 billion a year for the industry.
Why it matters
America has run this experiment before: Congress made daylight saving permanent in 1974, then repealed it within months after parents revolted over children leaving for school in the dark. Trump's camp claims 65% of Americans want more afternoon sun and "100% don't want to change their Clocks twice a year"; Cotton's camp counters that in Arkansas towns like Bentonville, winter sunrises would come after 8 a.m. — kids at bus stops in the dark for months. Sleep researchers mostly back the skeptics: permanent standard time is what body clocks want.
A president broadcasting a lawmaker's personal number is vanishingly rare — the last time was Trump himself, reading out Sen. Lindsey Graham's cell number at a 2015 rally. Graham's reply: "Probably getting a new phone. iPhone or Android?"
Impact on the USA and the world
The stakes have a hard deadline: daylight saving ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1 — without Senate action, everyone sets the clock back an hour and the fight resets. Nineteen states have passed year-round daylight saving laws, all dormant because federal law forbids it.
Beyond the U.S., the ripples are logistical — travel, broadcasts, and business all shift twice a year — while the political story tests Trump's habit of publicly pressuring his own party, this time over policy instead of personality.
What happens next
Start with the calendar: the Senate is in recess until after the November midterms, per the Washington Times — no vote is possible before November 1, whatever Trump demands.
After the midterms, the leverage cuts both ways: Cotton's re-election race isn't competitive, but Trump carried Arkansas with over 64% in 2024 — popular with the people he told to "call Tom." The bill still needs committee, 60 votes, or unanimous consent, and Kennedy's "dead as disco" suggests the votes aren't there regardless.
Our take: America falls back on November 1, and the bill becomes a midterm bargaining chip. But if even a handful of senators flip after November, a 308-vote House margin makes "dead as disco" age badly.
The clocks will fall back on November 1. The fight over whether they ever spring forward again is just getting started.