President Trump on Saturday posted what he claims is Sen. Tom Cotton’s cellphone number and urged supporters to pressure him to support a bill making daylight saving time permanent.
“Almost everybody wants ‘The Sunshine Protection Act’ to pass, except for Tom Cotton,” the president wrote, referring to the Arkansas Republican.
“Call Tom on his cellphone at … and let him know,” he added, including a number beginning with a northwestern Arkansas area code.
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The post is a major escalation in Mr. Trump’s dispute with Mr. Cotton over a peripheral policy issue.
Mr. Cotton chairs the Senate Republican Conference and the Senate Intelligence Committee.
He has long opposed the Sunshine Protection Act, arguing year-round daylight saving time would again threaten the “quality of life” and “safety” of early risers, such as construction workers and children waiting for school buses.
“A shift to permanent daylight saving time would make it harder to go to sleep at night and harder to wake up in the morning,” he said in an October 2025 speech.
In the social media post, Mr. Trump included a letter in which Brian Rolapp, CEO of the PGA Tour, expressed support for the legislation on behalf of the golf organization.
“The PGA TOUR, as an example, needs more Daylight in the afternoon in order to finish their Tournaments,” wrote Mr. Trump. “Likewise, regular Golfers, Tennis Players, Hunters and, perhaps most importantly, Farmers who want more Daylight to play or work.”
The president also said changing clocks is dangerous and expensive because it makes people climb high.
“It’s very expensive for our Nation where you have high and dangerous steeples to reach, like on churches and municipal buildings,” he wrote.
The Senate is on recess and not scheduled to return for legislative business until after the midterms and the end of daylight saving time.
The lame-duck session is likely to be busy, with senators focused on priorities such as passing annual funding bills, reauthorizing federal surveillance powers and advancing permitting reforms.
Mr. Cotton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the post.
Mr. Cotton held his ground, saying Saturday on social media, “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.”
Mr. Trump continued his online pressure campaign.
“If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight,” he said in response. “TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN!”
Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, came to Mr. Cotton’s defense, even calling the president’s release of the phone number a doxing.
“Tom is right,” Mr. Roy said on social media. “And he should not have been doxxed.”
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