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Trump Releases Tom Cotton's Cell Number Over Daylight Savings Bill
Confirmed
In Short: The accounts agree that Trump posted Cotton's cellphone number and urged his supporters to call and pressure Cotton to support the bill.
In his post, Trump accused Cotton of holding up the legislation, which passed the House 308-117 in July and is now stalled in the Senate.
Trump wrote, '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... 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.
Cotton responded, saying he also dislikes changing the clocks but opposes permanent daylight saving time because of the effect it would have on winter mornings. He wrote, 'No one likes changing the clock, me included, but we should not make a bad situation worse by pushing winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for our safety and well-being.
Trump urged Cotton to 'take the win' and argued that Americans would prefer more daylight in the afternoon. He also noted that the bill had bipartisan support in the House.
Cotton cited the 1970s when Congress instituted permanent daylight saving time but eventually reversed course after public opinion on it tanked.
Critics argue that permanent daylight saving time would push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that’s essential for their safety and well-being.
Supporters argue that permanent daylight saving time would provide more evening sunlight and eliminate the disruption of changing clocks twice each year.
Other Republicans who voted against advancing the bill in the Senate Commerce Committee last year included Ted Budd of North Carolina, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Tim Sheehy of Montana, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, and Todd Young of Indiana.
The Daily Wire and NBC News reported that Trump used the same tactic to force Cotton’s hand on the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide.
The move came after Trump previously criticized Cotton for helping stall the Sunshine Protection Act, a bipartisan bill that would end the twice-yearly clock changes and keep the nation on daylight saving time year-round.
The accounts agree that Trump posted Cotton's cellphone number and urged his supporters to call and pressure Cotton to support the bill.
The conclusion is that while Trump and his supporters believe the bill would be a bipartisan win, Cotton and some critics argue that it would make winter mornings darker and less safe.
What this adds
The sources have not established whether Cotton's office will respond further to Trump's actions or if other Republican senators will change their stance on the bill.
What's confirmed
- “Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill,” Trump said.
What's still developing
- “These highly concentrated benefits for a few industries in a few regions are offset by widely distributed costs across many more industries throughout the entire country,” Cotton said in a speech.
- “And that’s to say nothing of moms sending their kids to school in the dark of night.” The Daily Wire has reached out to Cotton’s office for comment.
- “It’s said that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And that’s what would happen if Congress passes the so-called Sunshine Protection Act, once again ending Standard Time and imposing daylight savings time year-round,” Cotton said in a 2025 floor speech.
- “If permanent daylight savings time becomes the law of the land, it will again make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans,” he added.
- Tom Cotton on Saturday, publicly posting what appeared to be the Arkansas senator's personal cellphone number and then attacking Cotton again after the senator refused to back down over permanent daylight saving time.
- "No one likes changing the clock, me included," Cotton wrote, adding that Arkansans do not want children "going to school in the pitch dark." Trump quickly responded again, arguing Cotton was not putting Arkansas first and accusing him of holding up what could be a political victory for Republicans.