Trump calls for an end to daylight saving time

U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that the daylight saving time practice, which requires clocks to be moved forward and backward twice a year, should be abolished.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House while heading to a rally in Ohio, Trump called for the relevant bill to be passed in the Senate. Arguing that the practice places a burden on the economy and disrupts people's daily routines, Trump said, "We want to get rid of the ridiculous practice and tradition of moving clocks forward and backward twice a year."

Trump noted that a large portion of the public wants to make better use of daylight, stating that it gets dark too early when the country switches to standard time. Reminding that the bill had previously passed the House of Representatives, Trump said the process is currently stalled in the Senate.

Targeting Republican Senatör Tom Cotton, whom he accused of blocking the bill, the U.S. President said, "The House passed it with over 80 percent of the vote. The bill has been sitting in the Senate for a while, and I hope we can get Tom Cotton to move. Tom Cotton is blocking the bill; he shouldn't be doing that."

It was noted that a day earlier, Trump had shared Cotton's cell phone number on his social media account and called on voters to pressure the senator. Daylight saving time has been practiced in various forms in the U.S. since World War I, while the federal regulation across the country went into effect in 1966.