In the first major tragedy of his second term, President Donald Trump swiftly blamed Democrats and federal diversity initiatives for the midair collision over the Potomac River that claimed 67 lives—despite no evidence supporting his claims.
While the investigation remains in its early stages, Trump’s accusations were not.
“I have common sense, OK?” he responded when asked for proof linking the crash to policies from the Biden and Obama administrations. “Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.”
Addressing the nation from the White House briefing room for the first time since returning to office, Trump called the incident “an hour of anguish for our nation” before quickly shifting to a familiar political narrative.
Shortly after confirming there were no survivors, he suggested that diversity policies had weakened aviation standards, contributing to the crash. His remarks were echoed by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“We must maintain the highest standards in our aviation system,” Trump said. “I reversed Obama’s weak standards and replaced them with extraordinary ones—only those with the highest intellect and psychological aptitude could qualify as air traffic controllers.”
He also took aim at former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay member of Biden’s cabinet, sarcastically calling him “a real winner.”
“Do you know how badly things have been run since he took over the Department of Transportation?” Trump said. “He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor, ran his city into the ground, and now he’s got a good line of bulls**t.”
As Trump spoke, television broadcasts showed a split-screen of the recovery efforts on the Potomac, just miles from the White House. Soon after Trump left the briefing room, Buttigieg responded on social media.
“President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA,” Buttigieg wrote. “One of his first acts was to fire and suspend key personnel responsible for keeping our skies safe. It’s time for the President to show actual leadership and explain how he will prevent this from happening again.”
Since returning to office, Trump has launched a flurry of executive actions, reflecting a more seasoned approach to governance compared to his first term. However, his remarks on Thursday made clear that his combative style remains unchanged. He berated reporters, engaged in speculation, and quickly cast blame.
He appeared to fault both air traffic controllers and the Army Black Hawk helicopter pilots, suggesting they “should have seen where they were going.”
“There were warnings, but they were given very, very late,” he said, implying that air traffic controllers had been negligent. He also questioned the helicopter’s altitude at the time of the collision.
Despite his claims, no official investigation has placed blame on air traffic controllers, and it remains unclear which administration hired them.
“When I took office in 2016, I immediately raised standards for air traffic controllers because I knew this job required superior intelligence,” Trump said. “When Biden took over, he lowered them to worse than ever before.”
Later on Thursday, Trump issued a presidential memorandum ordering a review of aviation policies and what the White House called “the damage done” to safety under Biden. The memo specifically called for a reassessment of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices implemented by the previous administration.
Source: CNN
