A passenger jet carrying 64 passengers collided in midair with an Army helicopter in the Washington, D.C., area on Wednesday night, resulting in a national tragedy that claimed the lives of dozens of people just 11 days into Donald Trump’s presidency.
In the same way that his campaign repeatedly defied political convention, his response eschewed the standard strategy that presidents usually employ following a tragedy.
The president started accusing people and attacking without waiting for a thorough investigation or a list of the victims. Instead of focusing on the victims and eschewing political conflict, he used it to forward his goal in opposition to diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
His strategy shifted the focus from the case’s victims, recovery attempts, and investigation to a dispute over one of his most important political targets. Trump’s handling of the situation drew criticism, although it was consistent with his rejection of conventional political methods.
Before many details were known, Trump swiftly posted on social media, assigning responsibility for the tragedy on Wednesday night.
He read a more conventional speech at a White House press briefing on Thursday, expressing his condolences for the tragedy. However, he then launched into remarks that sounded more like they came from a campaign rally, denouncing a Democratic official as “a disaster,” attacking his predecessors, and attacking DEI, even though there is currently no proof that these policies were a factor in the midair collision.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, told MSNBC, “When you talk about standards, what we just saw does not meet the published international standards of providing information in the wake of an accident.” Guzzetti has spent 35 years as an investigator looking into aircraft accidents.
“I don’t mean to seem political, but the information that was released was inaccurate. It compromised the integrity of the inquiry,” he continued. And this is the first occasion I’ve ever seen a government official evade the long-standing custom of investigating airplane accidents. And I find it disgusting that these political remarks were being made in the wake of the tragedy in this way, personally.
Newly confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joined Trump as members of his Cabinet.
Hegseth revealed the ranks of the three service personnel murdered in the military helicopter during his remarks. It was a departure from long-standing Pentagon regulation, which states that no details about a service member died while performing their duty are released until 24 hours after all surviving family members have been informed.
Duffy, who is not a transportation expert but rose to prominence as a reality TV personality before winning a seat in the Wisconsin legislature, was appointed transportation secretary on Wednesday. He stumbled through a subsequent press event on Thursday morning, telling reporters the obvious: “Aircraft collisions are not common. I want to make that known.”
Trump acknowledged that there probably weren’t any survivors and thanked first responders and federal agencies as he began the press meeting on Thursday.
During the serious remarks, he stated that it was a painful and gloomy night in the capital of our country.
Trump’s remarks then shifted to a more political tone. He accused “the Democrats,” including former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, of backing previous FAA diversity initiatives.
Trump stated, “I do want to point out that the FAA diversity push includes focusing on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities,” in a number of stories published before I took office. That’s incredible.
As rescuers continue to look for scores of bodies in the Potomac River, he made these remarks.
When reporters questioned Trump about how he knew diversity initiatives contributed to the terrible crash after just one day, he said, “Because I have common sense.”
The American Association of People with Disabilities said in a statement that FAA personnel with disabilities were not responsible for the sad jet disaster that occurred yesterday night. The crash inquiry is still in progress. The President’s use of this tragedy to advance a hiring policy that is hostile to diversity is utterly irresponsible. This reduces the safety of all Americans.
A reporter once questioned Trump about whether he was advancing the inquiry by assigning responsibility before the victims’ names were revealed.
“No, I don’t believe that. Are you referring to the names of the passengers on the aircraft? Do you believe that will have an impact? They are a bunch of folks that have died,” Trump stated, adding that a list would be made public shortly.
Biden’s transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, was also specifically targeted by Trump.
That man truly is a victor. He is a catastrophe. Unprompted, Trump said. As mayor, he was a complete failure. He is a catastrophe who destroyed his city.
Trump said, “He’s just got a good line of bull—-.”
In response, Buttigieg called Trump’s news conference “disgusting” on X.
Trump should be leading, not lying, while families grieve, he wrote. We prioritized safety, reduced near-misses, expanded air traffic control, and had no fatalities from commercial airline crashes during our millions of trips, he wrote.
That was “no foundation” for Trump’s remarks regarding FAA diversity programs, pilot John Cox, president and CEO of Safety Operating Systems LLC, said MSNBC.
“One thing that has to be remembered is that there are standards for everyone in aviation, notably in a safety critical position, bit pilots, be it flight attendants, be it dispatchers, be it air traffic controllers,” he stated.
Trump further attributed the helicopter’s “pilot problem” and poor vision to the DEI programs among air traffic controllers, saying, “I can’t imagine people with 2020 vision, not seeing what’s happening up there.”
According to Trump, it was a very clear night since it was visual. It was as clear as possible despite being cold.
As of yet, authorities have not provided a formal explanation for the airborne crash.
But Trump also stated that the American people shouldn’t be scared to fly and that he wasn’t criticizing the [air traffic] controller.
Trump responded, “No, not at all.” I would fly without hesitation.
At the White House press briefing, Duffy and Hegseth both supported Trump on the diversity issue.
You brought up a crucial point: when it comes to safety, we can only put the smartest and the brightest people in safe positions that have an influence on our family members’ and loved ones’ lives, Duffy stated. The greatest, the brightest, the most intelligent people entering these areas is the motto of your history, and I believe you make a pretty important point on that, Mr. President.
According to Hegseth, hiring procedures ought to be merit-based and color-blind.
Trump also named Christopher Rocheleau as the acting FAA commissioner during the news conference, filling a vacancy. During the press conference, he remained silent.
When a panel broke off an Alaska Airlines plant at 16,000 feet early this year, many conservatives took notice of diversity in the aviation sector.
Following that incident, a number of right-wing political personalities and commentators started unjustly citing DEI as a significant problem in the airline sector.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the airline industry’s required diversity, equity, and inclusion policies! Following a post of a wheel collapsing from a Boeing 757, Donald Trump Jr. responded on Xin. It takes more than egregious stupidity for wheels to fall off airplanes!
Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an order he said would “restore the highest standards” at the Federal Aviation Administration. It mainly targets the agency’s DEI programs.
Trump claimed that previous Democratic administrations that implemented diversity initiatives had terrible policies and even worse politics. As you are aware, I signed an executive order last week, long before the tragedy, reestablishing our highest standards for air traffic controllers and other critical positions.
There has been a long-standing scarcity of air traffic controllers in the aviation sector, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 18,000 pilot positions will become available annually through 2033. According to aviation specialists who spoke to NBC News, DEI is not an issue in a field that, for example, has very few Black pilots and little evidence that diversity promotion has resulted in safety problems.