Trump shares apparent personal phone number of Sen. Tom Cotton while pushing for permanent daylight saving time

President Donald Trump appeared to share the personal phone number of a senator in his push to make daylight saving time permanent.

The president is putting pressure on Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support a bill to make the move permanent. He urged people to call what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July, but it faces roadblocks in the Senate where some Republicans are strongly opposed.

Proponents, including the White House, argue that the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. Detractors said permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially more hazardous winter mornings when children will be waiting for school buses and parents will be driving to work in darkness.

Daylight saving time is that period between spring and fall when clocks in most parts of the United States are set one hour ahead of standard time. Not all states observe it — and under the bill, states can opt out of the change if their respective legislatures act to do so before the bill's enactment.

"For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it's very easy to do, it only takes one!" Trump wrote on social media, noting that passing the bill would give professional golfers more time on the greens. "So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all," Trump said.

Trump included a phone number with an Arkansas area code.

This is not the first time Trump has released personal information about a senator. While competing for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina described Trump as "unfit for office" after Trump denigrated the military service of Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Trump then released Graham's personal cellphone number. That prompted a viral video in which the senator dramatically destroyed a series of flip phones. Graham later became a close ally of Trump.

Cotton, a member of Republican leadership, reiterated his opposition to permanent daylight saving time in a social media post of his own. Saturday afternoon, though he is not the only Republican who opposes it.

"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," he wrote. "Arkansans don't want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I'll always put Arkansas first."

A 2025 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that if forced to choose, most Americans would prefer to keep that extra hour of daylight in the evening. Only 12% of U.S. adults favor the current system of daylight saving time, which requires people in most states to change clocks twice a year, while 47% are opposed and 40% are neutral.

Members of Congress have long been interested in the potential benefits and costs of daylight saving time since it was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942. The Senate passed a bill four years ago to make daylight saving time permanent, but it stalled in the House.

Trump’s Truth Social post in full:

Everybody 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.” 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. So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all. Nobody wants to spend their precious time running all over the place, turning Clocks back twice a year and, having sunshine in the afternoon is better than early in the morning! The PGA TOUR, as an example, needs more Daylight in the afternoon in order to finish their Tournaments. Likewise, regular Golfers, Tennis Players, Hunters and, perhaps most importantly, Farmers who want more Daylight to play or work. See letter from Brian Rolapp, CEO of the PGA TOUR below. 65% PLUS want more sun in the afternoon, Daylight Saving Time (The way it is now!), but 100% don’t want to change their Clocks twice a year. They want to, as they say, “LOCK THE CLOCK!” Who doesn’t? It’s very expensive for our Nation where you have high and dangerous steeples to reach, like on churches and municipal buildings. Almost everybody wants “The Sunshine Protection Act” to pass, except for Tom Cotton. 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 at, 479-453-0533, and let him know. “The Sunshine Protection Act” was passed in the House by a Vote of 308 to 117. HAVE THE SENATE VOTE, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP