'Donald Trump's rant on Washington plane crash wasn’t just reckless - it was reprehensible'

Without a shred of evidence, Donald Trump blamed “lower standards” in hiring air traffic controllers for the Washington DC plane crash, and claimed that he had previously implemented “extraordinary” standards

17:51, 30 Jan 2025
Updated18:00, 30 Jan 2025

In the aftermath of a catastrophic midair collision that claimed 67 lives at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Donald Trump did what he does best - made it about himself.

Instead of showing the utmost respect to those families whose loved ones prematurely lost their lives at what could be human error, the US president instead looked to political points. During his briefing, Trump irresponsibly suggested that the crash was somehow linked to policies enacted by the Obama and Biden administrations. . .

Yet, before the victims’ families could even process their grief, Trump was standing behind a podium, using their tragedy as a political weapon. His comments were not just misleading - they were steeped in the same thickly veiled attacks on diversity that have defined his career.

He made it clear that, in his view, hiring efforts focused on inclusion inherently mean a decline in competence. He even cited articles that referenced FAA hiring initiatives for people with disabilities and dwarfism treating them as proof of systemic failure.