Trump presses Cotton to back permanent daylight saving time

President Donald Trump urged Arkansans on Saturday to call Sen. Tom Cotton and press him to support permanent daylight saving time, posting what appeared to be the Republican senator’s personal cellphone number as the bill awaits action in the Senate.

Cotton rejected the appeal, saying the change would leave children traveling to school in the dark on winter mornings.

The Sunshine Protection Act would end the twice-yearly clock changes by keeping daylight saving time in place year-round. The House passed it in July by a 308-117 vote, but the Senate has not taken up the measure. Some Republicans oppose it. Under the bill, states could opt out if their legislatures acted before it took effect.

“Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one!” He called on Arkansans to contact Cotton on his cellphone, including what appeared to be the number in his post. Trump said the measure should pass with bipartisan support.

Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of Republican leadership, responded on social media. “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changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” he wrote.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.”

Trump replied that year-round daylight saving time would give Arkansans “an extra hour of daylight” and spare them from changing clocks at home and work twice a year. In a Friday post urging Senate Republicans to act, he said clock changes cost the country money and were bad for crime, stress and sports.

Supporters, including the White House, say permanent daylight saving time would provide more light during hours when Americans are most active. Opponents warn that it would make winter mornings darker as children wait for school buses and commuters travel to work.

Cotton has pointed to a previous attempt in the 1970s, when Congress adopted permanent daylight saving time before reversing course. In a 2025 Senate speech, he warned that another change would deprive Americans of morning sunlight important to safety and well-being. The Senate passed an earlier version of the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, but it stalled in the House.

Trump’s own position has varied. After his 2024 election, he called for eliminating the need to change clocks twice a year; before taking office, he said Republicans would try to eliminate daylight saving time. He celebrated the House’s passage of the current bill in July as “Great News for America!”

In his latest push, Trump also cited PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp’s support, saying more winter daylight would help golf tournaments finish before dark.