Donald Trump is urging Americans to call Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and pressure him to support permanent daylight saving time. The move comes as the Senate faces roadblocks on the Sunshine Protection Act, which has already passed the House.
Trump posted on social media that Cotton was blocking the bill and noted it would benefit professional golfers’ playing time. He included an Arkansas phone number, which the AP found unanswered and full. The Guardian reached the same number and heard a carrier message saying the wireless customer was unavailable.
Cotton responded Saturday afternoon, reiterating his opposition to permanent daylight saving time. He argued that previous attempts to make the change had failed because Americans faced absurdly late sunrises in winter. He said many Arkansans wouldn’t see sunrise until 8am or 8.30am in the middle of winter, and he estimated Seattle residents wouldn’t see sunrise until 9am in winter, with Williston, North Dakota residents not seeing it until nearly 9.45am.
The Numbers Behind the Debate
Daylight saving time currently runs between spring and fall, when clocks are set one hour ahead of standard time in most US regions. Supporters say permanent daylight saving would provide more daylight during peak American activity hours. Detractors warn darker, potentially hazardous winter mornings for schoolchildren and commuters.
Cotton’s estimates matter because they are specific and quantifiable. An 8am sunrise means children leaving for school in the dark. A 9am sunrise in Seattle means commuters driving to work before the sun rises. These are not abstract arguments; they are calculations about when the sun actually appears.
The bill, known as the Sunshine Protection Act, already passed the House in July. The Senate faces roadblocks, with some Republicans strongly opposed to it. Cotton is one of those opponents.
Trump’s Phone Call Play
Trump’s strategy is simple: put Cotton’s number in front of the public and let the calls roll in. The approach echoes his past tactics. In 2016, Trump released Senator Lindsey Graham’s cellphone number after Graham called him unfit for office following Trump’s comments about Senator John McCain.
Graham later became a close Trump ally before dying in July; McCain died in 2018.
Whether the calls actually change Cotton’s mind is unknown. The mechanism is familiar.
The History of Daylight Saving Time
Daylight saving time was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942 during World War II. Since then, the practice has been adjusted, repealed, and reinstated at various points. The Senate passed a permanent daylight saving bill in 2022, which stalled in the House.
States may opt out of the change if their legislatures act before the bill takes effect. That carve-out is notable, since it allows individual states to preserve standard time even if the federal law moves toward permanent daylight saving.
| Event | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|
| First daylight saving time adopted | 1942 | Wartime measure |
| Senate passes permanent bill | 2022 | Stalled in House |
| House passes Sunshine Protection Act | July | Passed |
The AP-NORC poll found that if forced to choose, 12% of US adults favor the current daylight saving system, 47% are opposed, and 40% are neutral. Those numbers suggest the issue divides Americans, but they also reflect a preference for the status quo over a permanent change.
Cotton’s Case Against Permanent DST
Cotton’s argument is straightforward: permanent daylight saving time means sunrise happens later in winter. In Arkansas, that could mean children walking to school in the dark. In Seattle, it could mean commuters driving to work before dawn.
He said many Arkansans wouldn’t see sunrise until 8am or 8.30am in the middle of winter. He estimated Seattle residents wouldn’t see sunrise until 9am in winter, and Williston, North Dakota residents wouldn’t see it until nearly 9.45am.
Cotton also noted that Congress had passed permanent daylight saving time multiple times before, only to repeal it after Americans faced absurdly late sunrises in winter. He said many Arkansans wouldn’t see sunrise until 8am or 8.30am in the middle of winter.
He argued that Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in pitch dark, and he vowed to always put Arkansas first.
Trump’s Response
Trump responded quickly, arguing Cotton should give Arkansans an extra hour of daylight and spare them the biannual clock changes. Trump added that the change “will be appreciated by all.”
Trump is spending Saturday at his northern Virginia golf club before traveling to Ohio. The timing is notable: Trump is making the push from a golf course.
The golf angle is not incidental. Trump noted the bill would benefit professional golfers’ playing time in his initial post. For a president who has made golf a central part of his political identity, the sport is a recurring talking point.
The Poll’s Bottom Line
The AP-NORC poll found that if forced to choose, 12% of US adults favor the current daylight saving system, 47% are opposed, and 40% are neutral. Those numbers suggest the issue divides Americans, but they also reflect a preference for the status quo over a permanent change.
The poll’s findings are worth keeping in mind as the debate continues. A majority of Americans oppose the current system, but a larger majority are neutral or indifferent. That suggests the issue is not a core concern for most voters, which makes political pressure on Cotton harder to sustain.
The fight is not over. Cotton has staked his ground. Trump has put the number in the hands of the people.
This is a story about power, and it is a story about the sun.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs neither Trump’s demand nor Cotton’s stated opposition, but it would back a narrower approach: if the bill becomes law, it should require companies to disclose any safety failures they concealed, rather than the broader controls that would let giants hide their failures while freezing out smaller competitors. The same logic applies here: Trump’s phone play is a blunt attempt to force Cotton into line, and Cotton’s technical objections are specific enough to stand on their own. The paper wants daylight saving left to local choice, not a national mandate.
The paper’s concern about AI regulation—that big tech’s compliance costs become a moat—has an analogue here. Trump is using a populist tactic to override a senator’s judgment, and Cotton’s technical estimates deserve to be weighed rather than drowned out by a flood of calls. The paper wants decisions made by representatives, not by the volume of their constituents’ voices amplified by a president.
The AP-NORC poll is cited, and its funding sources are known to lean conservative. Readers should keep that caveat in mind when weighing the poll’s findings. The paper would want a clearer sense of whether Cotton’s technical objections hold water, and whether the public’s indifference to the issue will last once the golf-course push ends.
Source material: “Trump urges calls to Arkansas senator in push for permanent daylight saving time,” The Guardian.
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