Trump shares Tom Cotton's phone number in daylight saving time dispute

President Donald Trump escalated a daylight saving time dispute on October 3, 2026, by posting Senator Tom Cotton's personal cellphone number on Truth Social, urging Arkansas voters to pressure the senator. Trump is pushing for the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent, arguing it reduces crime and boosts commerce. Cotton defends his opposition, citing historical failures of year-round daylight saving time in 1974 and warning that late winter sunrises force children to commute in pitch darkness.

Trump's sharing of Cotton's phone number

• ▪President Donald Trump urged his supporters, particularly Arkansas voters, to call Senator Tom Cotton directly on his cellphone to demand he back the Sunshine Protection Act
• ▪President Donald Trump shared what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of Senator Tom Cotton in a Truth Social post on October 3, 2026, to pressure the Arkansas Republican into supporting permanent daylight saving time

Past cellphone number leaks

• ▪During his 2015 presidential campaign, Donald Trump previously shared the personal cellphone number of then-Senator Lindsey Graham at a South Carolina rally after Graham criticized him
• ▪Following Donald Trump's public release of his cellphone number in 2015, Senator Lindsey Graham dramatically destroyed a series of flip phones in a viral video

Struggle to pass the Sunshine Protection Act

• ▪The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House of Representatives in July 2026 with a bipartisan 308-117 vote, but the legislation has stalled in the Senate
• ▪Senator John Kennedy called the Sunshine Protection Act 'dead as disco' and expressed doubt that Senate Majority Leader John Thune would bring the measure to a floor vote
• ▪Senate Majority Leader John Thune has questioned whether the Sunshine Protection Act can secure the 60 votes necessary to advance, stating he does not want a mandate

Arguments for permanent daylight saving

• ▪PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp wrote a letter supporting the Sunshine Protection Act, stating it would generate $1 billion annually in new direct revenue for the sport
• ▪President Donald Trump argued that permanent daylight saving time would reduce crime, lower traffic accidents, benefit public health, and boost economic activity for sports, tourism, and agriculture

Opposition to permanent daylight saving

• ▪Agudath Israel of America warned that permanent daylight saving time could make it extraordinarily difficult for some observant Jews to reach work by 9 a.m. in winter
• ▪The American Academy of Sleep Medicine opposes permanent daylight saving time, arguing it would leave clocks out of sync with human biology and reduce essential morning sunlight
• ▪Senator Tom Cotton defended his opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act, arguing permanent daylight saving time would force children to walk to school and commuters to travel in pitch darkness, with Arkansas winter sunrises as late as 8 a.m.

Polls on daylight saving time

• ▪A 2025 poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only 12 percent of U.S. adults favored the current system of changing clocks twice a year
• ▪A YouGov survey conducted in February 2026 found that 64 percent of Americans support eliminating twice-yearly clock changes, while 16 percent oppose ending the practice

Debatable claims

• ▪The United States should make daylight saving time permanent
• ▪Donald Trump's public release of Senator Tom Cotton's cellphone number is justified
• ▪Permanent standard time is healthier for the public than permanent daylight saving time