President Donald Trump recently posted a message on social media that included what appears to be the personal cellphone number of Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, urging constituents to call the senator in support of the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent. Trump’s post, which also referenced Cotton’s role as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the senator a friend and urged Arkansans to “GET IT DONE” to help the bill pass.
The Sunshine Protection Act was approved by the House of Representatives in July, but it faces significant opposition in the Senate. Senator Cotton, a Republican leadership member, has publicly stated that he opposes the change, citing concerns that permanent daylight saving would leave children and commuters in dark winter mornings. Cotton explained that “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark” and that he would prioritize the state’s interests.
A 2025 poll from the Associated Press‑NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a majority of Americans would prefer to keep the extra hour of daylight in the evening, with 47% opposed to the current biannual clock change and 40% neutral. Only 12% favored the existing daylight‑saving system, indicating broad public support for the Sunshine Protection Act.
Trump’s sharing of a senator’s personal number is not unprecedented. During the 2016 Republican primaries, he released Senator Lindsey Graham’s cellphone number after Graham criticized Trump, leading to a viral video in which Graham destroyed several flip phones. Despite that incident, Graham later became a close ally of Trump.
