Trump shares Republican senator's phone number due to feud over daylight saving time | Jefferson City News-Tribune
Trump publicly pressed Cotton to support permanent daylight saving time and urged people to call a number he said was Cotton’s.
SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYThe publisher is a local news outlet, a source type that generally has newsroom standards but less national reporting capacity. The article includes a Reuters reporting reference, but does not clearly identify the story’s author or provide an explicit reproduction credit.
- Source type — Local news outlet; a moderate institutional credibility prior.
- Transparency — The story attributes statements and describes Reuters checking the phone number.
- Author attribution — No author is identified in the article metadata.
- Track record — The available information does not establish a broader corrections record or reporting track record.
The story attributes the competing positions to Trump and Cotton and reports a check of the phone number, along with relevant legislative context. It offers little independent context about the policy debate and does not include outside policy experts.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article presents Trump’s arguments and Cotton’s opposition, and includes Kennedy’s view of the bill. It does not provide independent analysis of the policy’s likely effects, leaving some context unexamined.
- Counterarguments presented — Cotton’s reasons for opposing the measure appear alongside Trump’s arguments for it.
- Source diversity — The story includes statements from multiple elected officials but no independent policy experts.
- Loaded language — Most of the forceful language is quoted from the officials rather than adopted by the article.
- Omitted context — The article gives limited context on the policy arguments beyond the officials’ statements.
The article reports the dispute in largely neutral language, quoting both Trump and Cotton and providing basic legislative context. It does not clearly endorse either side.
- Language tone — Mostly descriptive language without a clear partisan judgment.
- Source selection — Includes statements from Trump and Cotton, plus Kennedy’s view of the bill.
- Framing — Frames the story as a dispute over daylight saving time and the bill.
President Donald Trump urged people to call a phone number he said belonged to Sen. Tom Cotton, escalating their dispute over a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. Cotton argued the change would leave children going to school in winter darkness.
Trump posted a phone number he said belonged to Cotton and urged people to call, saying Cotton was holding up the Sunshine Protection Act. When Reuters called the number, it reached a voicemail box that did not identify itself as Cotton’s. Cotton responded on X that he opposed changing the clocks permanently because winter sunrises would be too late.
The article says the House passed the bill in July. Sen. John Kennedy called it “dead as disco” and said he did not expect Senate Majority Leader John Thune to bring it to a vote. Trump also cited support from golfers and others, while the article noted Cotton is running for reelection in a race it described as not competitive.
Community verdict
12 VOTES
People in this story
SWIPE →President who posted a phone number he said belonged to Cotton and pressed him to support the bill
Arkansas senator opposing the daylight saving time bill
Cotton's version of this story ↗
Senate majority leader whom Kennedy said might not bring the measure to a vote
Louisiana senator who called the bill “dead as disco”
Part of a bigger story
50 OUTLETSOutlets agree that Trump posted a number he identified as Sen. Tom Cotton’s and urged Arkansans to contact him in support of permanent daylight saving time. The House had passed the measure, but it remained stalled in the Senate. Left-leaning outlets focus on the phone-number post as a pressure tactic and its fallout, often criticizing Trump’s conduct. Center outlets largely recount the policy dispute, Cotton’s objections, and the phone-number post in descriptive terms. Right-leaning outlets emphasize Trump’s push to advance the bill and Cotton’s opposition, while also reporting the post and criticism it drew.
- ARTICLES
- 75
- OUTLETS
- 50
- AVG CRED
- 68
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