Donald Trump escalated his campaign to change daylight saving time by pressuring fellow Republican Tom Cotton—and appearing to publish the Arkansas senator’s personal cellphone number.

The president spent much of Saturday promoting the Sunshine Protection Act, legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent.

The measure passed the House in July but has encountered resistance from Republicans in the Senate, including Cotton, one of its most outspoken opponents.

“For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one!” Trump wrote on social media. He added that the legislation would give professional golfers more time on the course.

“So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all,” Trump wrote.

Trump also posted a phone number with an Arkansas area code. When The Daily Mail called it, nobody answered and the voicemail inbox was full.

The president made several Truth Social posts backing the bill, including one that shared a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp in support of the proposal.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but a table full of very distinguished people just told me that they HATE, immediately after a mandatory time change, going home at night – and it’s DARK. It’s depressing!” Trump wrote in one post.

Supporters, including the White House, say permanent daylight saving time would provide more daylight during the hours when Americans are most active.

Opponents argue that the policy would produce darker—and potentially more dangerous—winter mornings, leaving children waiting for school buses and parents commuting to work in the dark.

Trump’s intervention marked a striking escalation in a longstanding disagreement shared by both men. Trump supports making daylight saving time permanent, while Cotton has firmly rejected the idea.

The dispute comes only weeks before the midterm elections, when Republicans would rather see the president emphasize affordability issues and highlight the party’s accomplishments. Cotton is also seeking reelection this November, although his contest is not expected to be competitive.

Daylight saving time refers to the period between spring and fall when clocks across most of the United States are moved one hour ahead of standard time.

Not every state observes daylight saving time. Under the proposed legislation, states could opt out if their legislatures took action before the bill was enacted.

Cotton, who serves in Republican leadership, restated his opposition to permanent daylight saving time in a social media post Saturday afternoon.

He is not the only Republican senator against the policy, but he has been among its most vocal critics.

“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,” Cotton wrote.

‘Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I´ll always put Arkansas first.’

Trump, who is spending the day at his northern Virginia golf club before traveling to Ohio later Saturday, promptly fired back.

‘If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run all over their houses, farms, work places, and everywhere else, twice a year, having to change their Clocks, and often forgetting to do so,’ Trump said, adding that ‘that is really putting Arkansas FIRST.’

A 2025 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that if forced to choose, most Americans would prefer to keep that extra hour of daylight in the evening. 

Only 12 percent of US adults favor the current system of daylight saving time, which requires people in most states to change their clocks twice a year, while 47 percent oppose it and 40 percent are neutral.

Members of Congress have long been interested in the potential benefits and costs of daylight saving time since it was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1918. 

The Senate passed a bill four years ago to make daylight saving time permanent, but it stalled in the House.

It is not the first time Trump has resorted to publishing personal contact information to bolster his cause.

While competing for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, the late Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina described Trump as ‘unfit for office’ after Trump denigrated the military service of Senator John McCain of Arizona. 

Trump then released Graham’s personal cellphone number. That prompted a viral video in which the senator dramatically destroyed a series of flip phones.

Graham later became a close ally of Trump. In contrast, although they share many of the same policy positions, Trump and Cotton are not known to be close.

Cotton, one of the Republican Party’s most prominent national security voices, has advocated for a more hawkish approach on Iran, particularly as Trump entertains pauses in military strikes amid the seven-month war. 

In Trump’s first term, Cotton was a critic of the president’s attempts at overhauling the nation’s sentencing laws, calling the proposal a ‘jailbreak.’

Earlier this year, Cotton had temporarily defied Trump’s attempts at stalling the confirmation process for his own nominee for director of national intelligence, Jay Clayton. 

The president had wanted to ensure his interim pick for the intelligence job, Bill Pulte, would be able to serve in that role at least briefly when the former director, Tulsi Gabbard, left the job.

But the appointment of Pulte, who had no known national security credentials, drew bipartisan condemnation from Capitol Hill and Cotton had tried to expedite Clayton’s confirmation process, which could have prevented Pulte from being installed as acting director.

But Trump ultimately ordered Clayton to not appear before Cotton’s committee for his confirmation hearing, and Pulte served in the job for several weeks this summer. Clayton was eventually confirmed by the Senate in late July.

Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff has addressed the alleged gang rape on campus, a case that has triggered widespread outrage over the university’s response.

Kotlikoff said his “heart aches” for the woman identified in court filings as Jane Doe. In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, she accuses seven male students of raping and sexually assaulting her while she was intoxicated at the Chi Phi fraternity house in October 2024.

Cornell carried out its own investigation at the time and imposed disciplinary measures against several students. A separate criminal investigation led by the office of District Attorney Matthew Van Houten ended without charges being filed.

The lawsuit renewed attention on the case by presenting additional allegations. In response, New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to examine the matter.

Kotlikoff said Cornell supports the governor’s decision and acknowledged the growing questions surrounding the university’s handling of the allegations nearly two years ago. He also conceded that the institution must “do better.”

The president’s remarks came one day after Doe’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, told NBC News that his client was “hanging on by a thread” and “not doing well.”

“She comes from a small town. Her dream, from when she was a little girl, was to go to the Cornell Hotel School. This was her desire,” Giuffra said.

Giuffra said the experience was so traumatic that Doe considered leaving Cornell but feared the financial consequences of withdrawing.

“She had to stay there, and then ultimately, she couldn’t take it anymore. Her mother was up there constantly, and she had to leave,” Giuffra said.

Doe ultimately left the university. Her lawsuit claims that only two of the seven students accused of attacking her were expelled, while others allegedly received lesser penalties, including being required to write essays.

Doe had previously spoken with investigators following the alleged incident, but Van Houten’s office did not bring criminal charges.

Van Houten defended that decision, pointing to differences between Doe’s initial account and the allegations described in the lawsuit. Giuffra has rejected the prosecutor’s characterization of those differences.

Kotlikoff said he “welcomed” an independent examination of Cornell’s response and backed Hochul’s decision to appoint James. He also said the university would support legislative efforts aimed at strengthening protections and laws involving sexual assault and intoxication.

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He described the period since the lawsuit became public as “one of the most difficult weeks” in Cornell’s history, saying he understood that students were “angry, sad and struggling.”

“What happened to Jane Doe in 2024 is deeply disturbing and will weigh heavily on our community for years to come,” Kotlikoff said.

“My heart aches when I think of what she experienced. It raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.”

“We must do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe, and everyone before her, and anyone after her, from ever happening again.”

Kotlikoff promised to improve campus culture and ensure students understand consent moving forward. 

He added that campus administration would make a ‘greater effort’ to be transparent with students.

Kotlikoff said there will be announcements in the coming weeks for broader conversations, including the role that Greek life plays on campus. 

The president concluded that Cornell was ‘listening, learning and committed to communicating more openly.’ 

‘This is a defining moment in Cornell’s history. We must lead the way. We owe it to Jane Doe and to survivors of assault to get this right, and we must keep each other safe,’ he said.

The governor has reiterated the public’s concerns about the initial handling of the case, saying in a statement that ‘newly released information continues to raise serious questions about the investigation,’ which has in turn ‘undercut my faith, and the public’s faith.’

Giuffra praised the decision to appoint James, adding he ‘had no faith in DA Van Houten’s ability or desire to actively investigate and prosecute this case.’ 

The lawsuit names the university, seven fraternity brothers and a local bar as defendants. None of the seven men have been criminally charged. 

Jeremy Saland, an attorney for accused student Scott Kretzschmar, said his client denies the claims and warned against letting public outrage become a presumption of guilt. 

Two other defendants, Scott Norris and Gillio Lopes, have also publicly denied participating in the alleged sexual assaults or drug use described in the complaint. 

At the time of Cornell’s 2024 investigation, the other four defendants admitted to sexual contact with Jane Doe but insisted it was consensual. 

Sir Ranulph Fiennes reportedly wrote a secret will at Everest base camp during what has been described as a severe crisis in his marriage.

Michael Kobold, the explorer’s friend of 30 years, told The Mail on Sunday that Sir Ranulph handwritten the document in his tent in May 2008, the night before making an unsuccessful attempt to reach Everest’s 29,000ft summit.

Sir Ranulph then sealed the will and handed it to Mr Kobold, who remains in possession of it. He reportedly instructed his friend to open the document only after his death.

In an exclusive interview, Mr Kobold, a German watch entrepreneur based in Switzerland, said Sir Ranulph had decided to divorce his second wife, Louise Millington-Cotes, two months earlier, shortly before travelling from Britain to Nepal.

The explorer allegedly asked Mr Kobold to locate both a law firm and a public relations specialist to manage the divorce proceedings.

However, Mrs Millington-Cotes is said to have discovered the plan. According to the claim, she confronted Sir Ranulph at their farm on Exmoor in Somerset, prompting a “much deflated” explorer to abandon the decision.

Mr Kobold said last night: “I don’t know what’s in the will, and I promised Ran that I would not open it until he died.

“I become emotional when I think about it because it was an incredibly difficult period for all of us. Ran was unhappy with the situation.

“I was present when he wrote it by hand and when he signed it. In Ran’s mind, it was an extremely bleak period in his life — probably the darkest up to that point — because he felt trapped.”

The remarkable allegation comes amid intense speculation over the whereabouts of the world’s greatest living explorer, who has not been seen in public for two years.

Sir Ranulph, now 82 and living with Parkinson’s disease, is reportedly believed to have been moved between care homes in London, Wales and Cheshire by Mrs Millington-Cotes. Friends claim his identity was concealed under an alias and that they were prevented from visiting him.

Mrs Millington-Cotes, a horse trainer from Cheshire, married Sir Ranulph in 2005, following the death of his first wife, Ginny, the year before.

At one London care home, she reportedly required visitors to sign non-disclosure agreements. At another facility in Wales, where he was registered as Robert Millington, she allegedly instructed staff to prevent him from socialising with fellow residents.

After an outcry from friends, who have urged police and the Office of the Public Guardian to investigate, Sir Ranulph is now thought to be back at his remote farm in Shropshire, concealed behind a 6ft security gate.

Mr Kobold, who is writing a book about Sir Ranulph’s disappearance, spent several weeks living with the explorer and his wife in 2008. He said he was shocked by what he described as Mrs Millington-Cotes’s treatment of his friend.

“Louise subjected Ran to a relentless stream of attacks, humiliating him repeatedly in front of me and other people. It was heartbreaking,” he said.

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‘I’ll never forget the first night. I went to sleep feeling awful for Ran and was very sad. The next morning I woke up and thought that today things will be better. Well, that day was just as bad.

‘The only time we had any peace from her was when we went on runs, which perhaps explains why they always took so long [two to three hours].’

Mr Kobold claims that Sir Ranulph told him of an incident in which Mrs Millington-Cotes took his passport and locked him out of the house where they were living in Cheshire.

Sir Ranulph is said to have been injured as he attempted to climb back in through a bathroom window.

Mr Kobold claims that over several weeks, during which he was acting as Sir Ranulph’s de facto chauffeur, he persuaded the explorer to divorce his wife.

‘This was a firm decision and because Ran did not know how the mechanism works I was asked to basically organise everything around the divorce and manage it for him.’

Mr Kobold said he met a law firm in London and spoke over the phone to a PR specialist, because Sir Ranulph feared the divorce would ‘get ugly’ and he didn’t want to ‘be the next Paul McCartney’ – a reference to the acrimonious split of Sir Paul McCartney and his second wife, Heather Mills.

Sir Ranulph and Mr Kobold were due to discuss the plan at the explorer’s office at Greenlands, his farm on Exmoor. 

But to Mr Kobold’s surprise, Mrs Millington-Cotes arrived and insisted on talking to her husband alone.

‘She shows up, kicks me out, slams the door shut and spends ten minutes with Ran,’ Mr Kobold said.

‘Afterwards he says, ‘Mike, I’ve got bad news. Unfortunately I’m unable to move forward with the divorce.’

Days later, after Mr Kobold arranged a new passport, Sir Ranulph flew to Nepal for his second attempt at climbing Everest. Mr Kobold, who joined him at base camp, had previously seen a copy of the explorer’s will and does not know why he wrote a new document on the eve of launching his climb.

‘At base camp, for whatever reason, he created a new will. Something must have come into his mind. I just remember we were sitting in his tent and he wrote it out longhand and he signed it and he gave it to me.’

The legal status of the document is unclear because under English law, wills have to be signed by two witnesses. Mr Kobold said he may have signed the document, although he has no memory of doing so.

Sir Ranulph, then aged 65, was unable to reach the summit of Everest because of exhaustion, although he achieved the remarkable feat the following year, the oldest Briton to do so.

Mrs Millington-Cotes was approached for comment.

Some photographs linger in the public mind—and this has quickly become one of the most striking images of 2026.

Yet the picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor marking his 66th birthday in February may soon be replaced by a more relaxed scene. In that unforgettable image, his expression is one of disbelief and indignation, starkly illuminated by a flash as he was driven away from Aylsham police station after spending 11 hours in custody.

I understand that some of north Norfolk’s leading figures have decided the former Duke of York should not be excluded indefinitely, as though he were an outcast from another age.

‘The view is that things have gone too far,’ says one society source.

The source points to an incident three months after Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, when he reportedly had to escape a would-be attacker. The man, wearing a balaclava, had parked close to Marsh Farm, Andrew’s home on the King’s Sandringham estate.

‘The feeling is that Andrew needs to be welcomed back, at least to some extent.’

Among the so-called ‘Turnip toffs’ said to be setting the tone are the Earl and Countess of Leicester. Their Holkham estate covers 25,000 acres—making it larger than the King’s property—and Holkham Hall’s Palladian grandeur arguably outshines Sandringham’s pseudo-Jacobean style.

‘Tom and Polly [the Earl and Countess] have had Andrew to dinner,’ my source tells me.

The Leicesters are close to the Royal Family. Queen Elizabeth was a regular visitor to Holkham, where her corgis were often seen on the nearby beach.

The Earl, a former Scots Guards officer, has declined to comment. However, he has a long record of being prepared to take the lead.

‘Tom and Polly won’t be fawning over anyone,’ a friend says. ‘It was probably a very informal kitchen supper.’

The friend believes others—including ‘the Buxtons, the Barclays and the Buscalls, all the north coast lot’—are likely to follow their example.

Trinny Woodall once made a career out of telling women what to wear as co-host of the 1990s fashion series What Not To Wear.

Now the make-up entrepreneur is offering advice to women building careers later in life: turn to AI.

Some may regard that as taking a shortcut, but Woodall, 62, says: ‘Look at your job application and ask Claude and ChatGPT, “Tell me the things that are really crucial to bring out in me, that will give me the opportunity to sit in front of those people.” You want to beat the system, and the system is using AI.’

Lila’s Throne another posh party…

Was it Lila Moss or Lila Lannister? Kate Moss’s lookalike daughter attended a Game Of Thrones-themed party last week, taking on the persona of a member of House Lannister—one of Westeros’s richest and most influential fictional families.

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The model was joined at the dinner by influencer Olivia Neill, model Stevie Sims and Stella Jones, the daughter of Clash guitarist Mick Jones. The celebration took place at the fashionable members’ club House of Koko in Camden.

The guests arrived in a bright pink limo, donning gold crowns and jewelled dresses and spent the evening fighting over the Iron Throne.

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton is looking forward to sharing a pint with his godson Prince George… when he comes of age, of course.

The former SAS man, who was private secretary to Princes William and Harry between 2005 and 2013, reveals: ‘I really enjoy being godfather to people but I like it when you can have fun with them, which is about 18 or 19 as far as I’m concerned.’

So Jamie will have to be patient as George only turned 13 in July. ‘The time will come when I’ll have a lot of fun, I think,’ Jamie says.

Guitarist’s new pick!

This newspaper revealed that Friends star Courteney Cox had split from musician Johnny McDaid in June – and now the Snow Patrol guitarist has moved on with glamorous finance executive Rosanna Konarzewski.

While collecting the BMI President’s Award last week, he doted on his new girlfriend: ‘Rosie, thank you for all your support and I love you.’

Meanwhile, Cox sparked dating rumours by dining with US actor Geoff Stults.

David Walliams was dropped by his publisher HarperCollins amid harassment allegations against him last year – which he denies – but that hasn’t stopped the comedian raking in a hefty profit. 

Accounts filed for his TV production company, King Bert Productions, reveal that the star, 55, made £500,000 last year. 

The firm, which specialises in comedy, children’s and family programming, has produced shows including Gangsta Granny Strikes Again! and Malory Towers. 

Last month, Walliams’ entire children’s book catalogue was dropped by HarperCollins and the physical copies are being phased out of bookstores.

Full Fat fire

A-listers were aghast when their beloved Chiltern Firehouse went up in flames last year.

Now another haunt almost suffered a similar fate: the restaurant at The Fat Badger in Notting Hill, where the King has dined, was evacuated last month when it ‘filled with smoke’ from a chimney fire. Abandon cocktails!