President Trump Sends Supporters After GOP Senator

President Donald Trump is turning up the pressure on a fellow Republican senator in an increasingly public fight over whether Americans should have to change their clocks twice a year.

Trump took aim at Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton on Saturday, urging people in the state to contact the senator as Cotton continues to oppose legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent.

In the Truth Social post, Trump included a phone number for Cotton and encouraged Arkansas residents to call him. The number is not being reproduced here.

“Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill,” Trump wrote, before urging supporters to press the senator to change his position.

Trump ended the message with a blunt demand: “GET IT DONE!”

The unusual move comes after Trump singled out Cotton by name in another lengthy Truth Social post this week, accusing the senator of standing in the way of the Sunshine Protection Act. Trump’s Truth

The legislation would end the twice-a-year clock changes by making daylight saving time permanent across most of the country.

The House passed the measure in July by a bipartisan 308-117 vote, but it has stalled in the Senate. With senators leaving Washington ahead of the November elections, the proposal is unlikely to take effect in time to prevent Americans from turning their clocks back on Nov. 1. New York Post

Trump has made the issue a surprisingly prominent priority.

In his earlier post, the president complained that changing the clocks is inconvenient and costly and argued that keeping an additional hour of evening daylight could benefit businesses, sports, tourism and families.

He has even begun referring to the proposal as the “No More Changing of Clocks Act,” although its official name remains the Sunshine Protection Act. Trump’s Truth

Cotton, however, has not been quiet about why he disagrees.

The Arkansas Republican delivered a Senate floor speech in October 2025 specifically opposing permanent daylight saving time. He argued that the change could leave millions of Americans traveling to work and school in darkness during winter mornings. Senator Tom Cotton

Cotton pointed to the United States’ experience in 1974, when Congress temporarily imposed year-round daylight saving time during the energy crisis. The experiment quickly became unpopular, and lawmakers reversed course before the planned two-year period was finished. Senator Tom Cotton

Cotton has also cited medical organizations that favor permanent standard time rather than permanent daylight saving time.

That distinction is important.

There is broad frustration with switching clocks every spring and fall, but there is less agreement over which time system should replace it. Sleep researchers and several medical groups have argued that permanent standard time aligns more closely with the body’s natural circadian rhythm, while supporters of permanent daylight saving time emphasize the benefits of additional evening sunlight. Senator Tom Cotton

Trump sees the issue differently.

He has argued that later sunsets could reduce some crimes and traffic accidents while encouraging people to spend more time outdoors and boosting businesses that depend on evening activity. Supporters of the legislation have made similar economic and public-safety arguments, although the research varies depending on the outcome being studied. Reuters

The disagreement has created a rare public split between Trump and Cotton, an Arkansas conservative who has generally supported many of the president’s priorities.

For now, Cotton has given no indication that Trump’s pressure campaign has changed his position.

And unless senators return to the issue before the next scheduled clock change, Americans will once again “fall back” by one hour on Nov. 1 — exactly the ritual Trump is trying to eliminate. New York Post