WASHINGTON — President Trump used a White House briefing about Wednesday night’s deadly collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over the Potomac River to rail against the Obama and Biden administrations for allegedly lowering standards for air traffic controllers.
The disaster resulted in 64 deaths aboard the American Airlines flight attempting to land at Reagan National Airport from Wichita, Kan., and three Army Black Hawk helicopter pilots.
“I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary. You remember that only the highest aptitude people, highest intellect and psychologically superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers,” Trump told the White House press corps Thursday.
“And then when I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. I put safety first, Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen because this was the lowest level.
“About a week ago, almost upon entering office, I signed something last week that was an executive order, very powerful, and restoring the highest standards of air traffic controllers and others.”
Trump said Democratic administrations “put a big push to put diversity into the FAA program” and ripped former President Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a “real winner” and a “disaster” who had “a good line of bulls—.”
The president cited articles that said the FAA was prioritizing hiring people with “severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.”
“The FAA — another story — determined that the workforce was too white. They actually came out with a directive to white and we want the people that are competent,” he said.
“You have to be talented, naturally talented — geniuses — you can’t have regular people doing that, won’t be able to do it, but I will restore faith in American air travel.”
Follow the NYP’s coverage of the deadly DC plane collision
- Military chopper, plane collision over DC was ‘absolutely’ preventable, new transportation boss says — as officials confirm no survivors expected
- Air traffic controller’s reaction to DC collision revealed in chilling audio: ‘Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three’
- DC chopper, plane crash live updates: No survivors expected after AA flight collides with military helicopter in deadliest US crash since 2009
- Timeline of air traffic controllers issuing warnings before American Airlines plane, Black Hawk helicopter collision in DC
- Trump says collision between American Airlines jet and Army helicopter ‘looks like it should have been prevented’
During the Q-and-A period, Trump acknowledged, “We don’t know, necessarily, that it was even the controller’s fault” and also blamed the Black Hawk helicopter’s crew for not spotting the plane.
Trump appeared with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice President JD Vance — who each gave brief remarks without taking questions.
“When you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means, on the one hand, you’re not getting the best people in government,” Vance said.
“But on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there.”