Sources: 7 | queue id: 90c1df0202e13432 | Researched: 2026-10-03 (ET)
On Saturday, October 3, President Donald Trump published what he said was the personal cell phone number of Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, urging voters in Cotton's home state to call the senator directly and pressure him to stop blocking the Sunshine Protection Act — legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent across the United States.
"Call Tom on his cellphone," Trump wrote on Truth Social, appending what he identified as Cotton's number and adding, "let him know. 'The Sunshine Protection Act' was passed in the House by a Vote of 308 to 117. HAVE THE SENATE VOTE, NOW!" It was Trump's second post in as many days singling out Cotton over the bill, escalating the pressure campaign from a public plea to publishing a phone number.
It could not be confirmed whether the number actually belongs to the senator. When Reuters dialed the Arkansas number, the call went straight to a voicemail box that did not identify itself as Cotton's. USA TODAY attempted to call and text the number; the messages were unsuccessfully delivered. The White House has not responded to requests for comment.
The Sunshine Protection Act, introduced in January 2025, would end the twice-yearly clock change and lock daylight saving time in year-round, while allowing states to opt out. It passed the House on July 14 by a bipartisan vote of 308 to 117 and has since sat idle in the Senate, where Cotton is among its most vocal opponents.
Trump has made the measure a personal cause. In his posts he cited broad public support, writing that golfers and farmers back permanent daylight saving time and claiming that "65% PLUS want more sun in the afternoon" while "100% don't want to change their Clocks twice a year. They want to, as they say, 'LOCK THE CLOCK!' Who doesn't?"
"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!" Trump wrote. He has lobbied senators privately as well as publicly: Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, previously disclosed that Trump had called him to urge support for the bill.
Cotton responded to the substance of the dispute on X, without mentioning or acknowledging the phone number. "No one likes changing the clock, me included," he wrote, "but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter."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 added.
The senator's opposition is longstanding. In a Senate floor speech last October, he said he would "always oppose" permanent daylight saving time, warning it would "again make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans" and plunge early risers into darkness during the winter months.
Cotton is not alone. Sen. John Kennedy this week called the bill "dead as disco" and said he did not expect Senate Majority Leader John Thune to bring it up for a vote. The offices of Cotton and Thune did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
History is also on the skeptics' side. The United States tried year-round daylight saving time in 1974 and abandoned it that same fall amid public backlash. In March 2022, the Senate passed a permanent daylight saving time bill, but it never received a floor vote in the House.
Under current law, most American states have switched clocks twice a year since the 1960s, and clocks this year are set to fall back to standard time on November 1. Hawaii and most of Arizona are exempt from the switch.
It is not the first time Trump has weaponized a lawmaker's phone number. On the 2015 campaign trail, he read out the number of Sen. Lindsey Graham — then a fierce rival for the Republican nomination — at a South Carolina rally and told the crowd to call him. Graham responded with a quip on Twitter: "Probably getting a new phone. iPhone or Android?"