Trump urges Arkansas voters to contact Tom Cotton over clock change bill
Developing story first seen 4 hours ago
Donald Trump appeared to post Senator Tom Cotton’s personal phone number on Truth Social and urged Arkansas voters to contact him over a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. The public appeal escalates a dispute between Trump and the Republican senator, who has blocked efforts to advance the legislation.
Trump says the Sunshine Protection Act should pass with bipartisan support, while Cotton argues winter mornings would leave children travelling to school in darkness. The House passed its version 308–117 in July, but it has not advanced in a Senate committee; the Senate is out of session until 3 November and cannot vote before the midterm elections. Trump also disclosed a senator’s number in 2015, when he shared then-Senator Lindsey Graham’s contact details.
- Trump urged Arkansas voters to call Tom Cotton over the stalled bill.
- Cotton says permanent daylight saving time would mean darker winter mornings.
- The House passed its version 308–117, but Senate action is stalled.
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The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent, so clocks would no longer go back by an hour each autumn. The change would mean lighter evenings in winter, but darker mornings, including for children travelling to school.
The proposal has support from both parties, but lawmakers disagree about its effects. President Donald Trump has urged the change, while Republican Senator Tom Cotton has raised concerns about winter morning darkness. The House of Representatives passed its version, but the bill has not progressed in the Senate.
The dispute reflects the Senate’s role in deciding whether a bill can advance, even when it has support in the other chamber. Any change would affect how people across the United States organise work, school and daily routines.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of making daylight saving time permanent argue that later evening light could benefit recreation, commerce and daily life, while avoiding the twice-yearly clock change. They may also see the House’s bipartisan vote as evidence that the proposal merits a Senate vote, and public pressure as a way to overcome legislative delay.
The case against
Opponents argue that permanent daylight saving time would mean darker winter mornings, leaving children and other early commuters travelling before sunrise; keeping standard time year-round is often favoured on that basis. They may also contend that a major change to the clock should be considered through ordinary Senate procedures, rather than pressure on an individual senator over a bill that has not advanced in committee.
Full account
In a move characteristic of his combative political style, President Trump on Saturday took to his Truth Social platform to directly challenge Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas over the stalled daylight-saving time legislation. The President publicly disclosed what appeared to be the senator's personal mobile number and explicitly encouraged Arkansans to contact their representative and demand he advance the measure to a Senate vote.
The Sunshine Protection Act, which secured a substantial cross-party majority in the House chamber during July (308-117), seeks to eliminate the biannual clock adjustments and establish permanent daylight saving time throughout the year. Trump has emerged as an enthusiastic backer, arguing that preserving evening daylight would deliver multiple societal advantages: diminished robbery and murder rates, reduced vehicular accidents (particularly those involving pedestrians), and decreased incidence of cardiac events, strokes and seasonal mood disorders.
Cotton's opposition remains firm. The Republican senator contended on social media that permanently advancing clocks would create genuinely hazardous conditions during winter months, when school-age children would board transport in darkness and workers would commute in pre-dawn conditions. Cotton further referenced congressional history, noting that prior attempts to implement permanent daylight saving time had been abandoned after public resistance mounted once the consequences became apparent.
The confrontation emerges amid the politically sensitive period preceding midterm elections, when Republican strategists would ordinarily prefer messaging centred on economic management rather than temporal adjustments. Golf industry advocates, notably executives from the PGA Tour, have publicly endorsed the legislation, envisioning extended evening playing hours. Cotton's principled stance has made him among the most prominent Republican critics, though he is not the only senator within his caucus to oppose the measure. Trump's decision to publicly disseminate a lawmaker's contact details recalls his 2015 disclosure of Lindsey Graham's telephone number during his first presidential campaign.
Where outlets differ
Fox News emphasises Senate procedural mechanics (unanimous consent attempts, the single-senator blocking rule, Senate schedule); Daily Mail prioritises political timing relative to the midterm elections
Fox provides exact House vote numbers (308-117) and stresses bipartisan support; Daily Mail mentions passage without numerical specifics and emphasises Republican opposition more prominently
Fox details Trump's specific catalogue of claimed health and safety benefits; Daily Mail omits these claims entirely
Fox reports unsuccessful attempt to reach the voicemail system; Daily Mail states the voicemail box was full
Fox references the 2015 Lindsey Graham telephone disclosure as historical precedent; Daily Mail does not make this connection
Daily Mail explains what daylight saving time entails and mentions the state opt-out provision; Fox assumes reader familiarity
Daily Mail frames Trump's action as a 'remarkable escalation'; Fox maintains a more neutral reportorial tone
Daily Mail provides electoral context noting Cotton is up for re-election; Fox does not mention this
More coverage
- The Hill — Trump, Cotton tussle over daylight savings after cell phone number leak
- Daily Mail — Trump turns on GOP ally and shares his personal PHONE NUMBER demanding Americans call him in fight over change to daylight saving time
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Originally published by Fox News as “Trump drops Republican Senator’s phone number in social post over fury on stalled bill”.