Trulga releases supposed phone number of Senator Tom Cotton in dispute over permanent daylight saving time

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, published on the internet, this Saturday (3), the supposed phone number of a Republican Party senator, amid a dispute over making daylight saving time permanent in the country.

In the social media post, Trump asked people to call a number that he said belonged to Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas who opposes a bill supported by Trump to make daylight saving time in effect year-round.

The dispute centers on the Sunlight Protection Act, which would end the practice of setting clocks forward or back by one hour twice a year. Trump claims most Americans want more sunlight in the afternoon, but Cotton argues the change would leave early risers in the dark during the winter months.

"Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is blocking the advancement of a very important bill. Everyone in Arkansas needs to know this," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Cotton did not respond directly to Trump's statement, but posted on X:

"No one likes changing the clocks — myself included — but Congress has instituted permanent daylight saving time several times and repealed it each time after Americans experienced absurdly late winter sunrises," he wrote.

"Arkansans don't want their children to go to school in the pitch black, and I will always put Arkansas first."

When Reuters called the number Trump assigned to Cotton, the call went directly to a voicemail whose recording did not identify it as belonging to the senator.

Trump gives political tone to the issue

Trump's post on Saturday morning was the second in two days about Cotton's opposition to the project. After Cotton released his statement, the president returned to Truth Social, treating the matter in purely political terms.

"Give the Republican Party a victory in the Senate for a change! (...) Accept victory, Tom, just accept victory! You need it, and so does our beloved Republican Party!", Trump posted on Saturday afternoon.

Cotton is running for re-election, but his race is not considered competitive as Trump received more than 64% of Arkansas' votes in the 2024 presidential election.

Most American states have adopted the time change since the 1960s. This year, clocks should return to standard time on November 1st.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill in July, but Cotton is not alone in the Senate and said he did not believe Senate Majority Leader John Thune would put the measure up for a vote.

Cotton and Thune's offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.

Support from golfers and farmers

Trump said golfers supported the change and shared an October 1 letter sent by the CEO of the PGA Tour, the sport's main organizing body, Brian Rolapp.

"The PGA Tour, for example, needs more daylight in the afternoon to complete its tournaments," said Trump, who often spends weekends at his golf clubs around the country.

He also singled out tennis players, hunters and farmers as advocates of year-round daylight saving time. In his publication on Saturday afternoon, the president added public safety as a justification.

"Criminals don't like working in broad daylight," Trump wrote. He later made a third post on the subject, stating that "very distinguished people" told him they didn't like returning home in the dark.

This is not the first time that Trump has released a senator's phone number to defend a position. During his first presidential campaign in 2015, Trump read Senator Lindsey Graham's phone number at a rally and called the South Carolina Republican an "idiot."