US President Donald Trump has publicly clashed with fellow Republican Senator Tom Cotton over a proposal to keep daylight saving time in place throughout the year.The dispute took an unusual turn on Saturday when Trump posted what he said was Cotton’s cellphone number on social media and asked people in Arkansas to call the senator and pressure him to support the proposal.The move came after Trump accused Cotton of holding up the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would stop Americans from changing their clocks twice a year.
What is Trump proposing
Under the current system, Americans move their clocks one hour forward in March and one hour back in November.Moving the clock forward means sunrise and sunset appear one hour later on the clock. For example, if the sun would normally rise at 7 am and set at 6 pm, the clock change would make them appear as 8 am and 7 pm. This gives people more daylight in the evening.Trump wants the March setting to remain in place throughout the year. That means Americans would not move their clocks back in November.Trump has repeatedly criticised the twice-yearly clock change, calling it “ridiculous”. On Saturday, he said the practice “discombobulates everybody.”The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House of Representatives in July by 308 votes to 117 but has remained stalled in the Senate.
Why is Cotton opposing it
Cotton, who represents Arkansas, says keeping daylight saving time throughout the year would make winter mornings too dark.He pointed to an earlier attempt to adopt permanent daylight saving time in the US. The country tried it in 1974, but public support quickly fell as people complained about late sunrises during winter. The change was abandoned in less than a year.“No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” Mr. Cotton said in a social media post. “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark.”Cotton’s position puts him at odds with Trump despite the two Republicans generally being political allies.
Trump asks voters to call Cotton
Trump included a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp in his post supporting the bill. Rolapp argued that an extra hour of daylight in the evening could allow Americans to play 23 million additional rounds of golf each year.Trump urged people in Arkansas to contact Cotton directly.“To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate,” Mr. Trump said. “Call Tom on his cellphone.”Two officials confirmed that the number Trump posted belonged to Cotton. His office did not respond to a request for comment. Calls to the number went to an automated message saying the recipient was “temporarily unavailable.”Cotton later defended his position without directly referring to Trump’s post. Trump responded within an hour, accusing Cotton of blocking the bill and asking why he was doing so, other than “ego?”
Why does the issue matter
The debate is not simply about whether Americans prefer longer evenings. Many sleep scientists favour the existing system because morning sunlight helps keep people’s body clocks aligned with the natural day.The 1974 experiment is also central to the argument. Supporters of permanent daylight saving time say the extra evening light would benefit activities such as sports and leisure, while opponents warn that winter mornings could become significantly darker. Trump has previously used a similar tactic against another senator.During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he publicly displayed the phone number of Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was then competing against him for the Republican nomination, and encouraged people to call him.At Graham’s funeral in July, Trump acknowledged that sharing the number was something he “shouldn’t have done.”“And I remember the number,” Mr. Trump said, reciting the digits again at the funeral. “If anybody wants to give it a shot,” he added.