President Donald Trump took an extraordinary step Saturday by sharing what appeared to be Sen. Tom Cotton’s personal cellphone number on Truth Social.
Trump’s post urged Arkansas residents to call Cotton directly and demand his support for the Sunshine Protection Act, legislation that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
Trump wrote: “Almost everybody wants ‘The Sunshine Protection Act’ to pass, except for Tom Cotton.”
The House already passed the measure in July by a sweeping bipartisan vote of 308 to 117, leaving the Senate as the remaining obstacle to final passage.
Cotton serves as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and has consistently opposed permanent daylight saving time, arguing it harms early risers, farmers, and children waiting at school bus stops.
Trump posted the number 479-453-0533, which carries an Arkansas area code but does not match any publicly listed contact number on Cotton’s official government website.
The Associated Press called the number but received no answer, and the voicemail box was reported to be full, while a separate call from another outlet also went unanswered.
Trump’s post included a letter from Brian Rolapp, CEO of the PGA Tour, expressing support for the legislation and arguing that professional tournaments require more afternoon daylight to reach completion.
Trump wrote: “The PGA TOUR, as an example, needs more Daylight in the afternoon in order to finish their Tournaments,” also citing regular golfers, tennis players, hunters, and farmers as beneficiaries.
Trump also noted the logistical costs of changing clocks twice yearly, writing that the process is “very expensive for our Nation where you have high and dangerous steeples to reach, like on churches and municipal buildings.”
In the post, Trump emphasized the Senate’s procedural vulnerability, writing, “in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one,” referring to Cotton’s ability to block the bill unilaterally.
Trump wrote: “So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all.”
Despite describing Cotton as “a friend of mine,” Trump’s public pressure campaign represents a significant escalation of their ongoing dispute over the daylight saving time policy.
Cotton, in an October 2025 speech, stated: “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.”
Cotton reiterated his opposition in a social media post of his own, and a spokesperson for the senator did not respond to requests for comment from reporters.
