A tragic mid-air collision near Washington, D.C., between American Eagle Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk left 64 dead. President Trump, in a White House briefing, blamed DEI hiring policies for possible aviation failures, igniting political backlash. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared an end to DEI in the military. Investigators are examining the cause of the crash as emergency teams continue recovery efforts. The disaster has raised concerns over aviation safety and government accountability.
#Trump #PlaneCrash #BreakingNews #WashingtonDC #FAA #AviationSafety #BlackHawk #MilitaryCrash #DEI #Politics #TrumpSpeech #Investigation #USArmy #FAAReform #PotomacCrash #NewsUpdate #AviationDisaster #GovernmentResponse #EmergencyRescue #FlightAccident #Live #Peripheral
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#Trump #PlaneCrash #BreakingNews #WashingtonDC #FAA #AviationSafety #BlackHawk #MilitaryCrash #DEI #Politics #TrumpSpeech #Investigation #USArmy #FAAReform #PotomacCrash #NewsUpdate #AviationDisaster #GovernmentResponse #EmergencyRescue #FlightAccident #Live #Peripheral
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NewsTranscript
00:00I'd like to request a moment of silence for the
00:08victims and their families, please.
00:30Thank you very much.
00:38I speak to you this morning in an hour of
00:41anguish for our nation.
00:44Just before 9 p.m.
00:46last night, an American Airlines regional jet
00:49carrying 60 passengers and four crew collided with an
00:53Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three military
00:56service members over the Potomac River in
00:58Washington, D.C., while on final approach to the
01:02Reagan National Airport.
01:04Both aircraft crashed instantly and were
01:06immediately submerged into the icy waters of the
01:09Potomac.
01:11Real tragedy.
01:12The massive search and rescue mission was underway
01:15throughout the night, leveraging every asset at
01:18our disposal.
01:19And I have to say, the local, state, federal,
01:21military, including the United States Coast Guard
01:25in particular, they've done a phenomenal job.
01:29So quick, so fast.
01:30It was mobilized immediately.
01:34The work has now shifted to a recovery mission.
01:39Sadly, there are no survivors.
01:43This was a dark and excruciating night in our
01:45nation's capital and in our nation's history, and
01:49a tragedy of terrible proportions.
01:52As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul
01:56that has been taken from us so suddenly.
02:00And we are a country of — really, we are in mourning.
02:05This has really shaken a lot of people, including
02:08people, very sadly, from other nations who were on
02:11the flight.
02:12For the family members back in Wichita, Kansas,
02:15here in Washington, D.C., and throughout the United
02:18States, and in Russia.
02:21We have a Russia contingent, some very
02:23talented people.
02:24Unfortunately, we're on that plane.
02:26Very, very, very sorry about that.
02:28Whose loved ones were aboard the passenger jet.
02:32We can only begin to imagine the agony that
02:35you're all feeling.
02:36Nothing worse.
02:38On behalf of the First Lady, myself, and 340
02:41million Americans, our hearts are shattered
02:43alongside yours, and our prayers are with you now.
02:47And in the days to come, we'll be working very,
02:50very diligently.
02:51In the days to come, we're here for you to wipe away
02:54the tears and to offer you our devotion, our love,
02:56and our support.
02:58It's great support.
03:00In moments like this, the differences between
03:03Americans fade to nothing compared to the bonds of
03:06affection and loyalty that unite us all, both as
03:09Americans and even as nations.
03:12We are one family, and today we are all heartbroken.
03:16We're all searching for answers.
03:19That icy, icy Potomac was a cold, cold night,
03:25cold water.
03:26We're all overcome with the grief for many who have
03:29so tragically perished, will no longer be with us.
03:33Together, we take solace in the knowledge that their
03:35journey ended not in the cold waters of the
03:38Potomac, but in the warm embrace of a loving God.
03:42We do not know what led to this crash, but we have
03:45some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think
03:48we'll probably state those opinions now.
03:51Because over the years, I've watched as things
03:53like this happen, and they say, well, we're always
03:56investigating.
03:56And then the investigation, three years
03:58later, they announce it.
03:59We think we have some pretty good ideas.
04:02But we'll find out how this disaster occurred, and
04:05we'll ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
04:09The FAA and the NTSB and the U.S.
04:12military will be carrying out a systematic and
04:15comprehensive investigation.
04:17Our new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy,
04:21his second day on the job when that happened.
04:25It's a rough one.
04:28We'll be working tirelessly.
04:30He's a great gentleman.
04:31The whole group is — these are great people,
04:34and they are working tirelessly to figure out
04:37exactly what happened.
04:39We will state certain opinions, however.
04:41I'm also immediately appointing an Acting
04:44Commissioner to the FAA, Christopher Rocheleau, a
04:4822-year veteran of the agency, highly respected.
04:53Christopher, thank you very much.
04:54Appreciate it.
04:56We must have only the highest standards for
04:58those who work in our aviation system.
05:00I changed the Obama standards from very
05:04mediocre at best to extraordinary.
05:07You remember that.
05:09Only the highest aptitude, they have to be the
05:13highest intellect, and psychologically superior
05:17people were allowed to qualify for air traffic
05:20controllers.
05:22That was not so prior to getting there.
05:25When I arrived in 2016, I made that change very
05:29early on because I always felt this was a job that
05:32— and other jobs, too — but this was a job that
05:34had to be superior intelligence.
05:37And we didn't really have that, and we had it.
05:41And then, when I left office and Biden took
05:45over, he changed them back to lower than ever before.
05:51I put safety first.
05:52Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first.
05:56And they put politics at a level that nobody has ever
06:02seen because this was the lowest level.
06:05Their policy was horrible and their politics was
06:09even worse.
06:10So, as you know, last week, long before the
06:12crash, I signed an executive order restoring
06:15our highest standards for air traffic controllers and
06:18other important jobs throughout the country.
06:20So it was very interesting.
06:22About a week ago, almost upon entering office, I
06:28signed something last week that was an executive
06:33order, very powerful, on restoring the highest
06:35standards of air traffic controllers — and others,
06:38by the way.
06:39And my administration will set the highest possible
06:42bar for aviation safety.
06:43We have to have our smartest people.
06:46It doesn't matter what they look like, how they
06:49speak, who they are.
06:50It matters intellect, talent.
06:52The word talent.
06:54They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses.
06:58You can't have regular people doing that job.
07:00They won't be able to do it.
07:02But we'll restore faith in American air travel.
07:05I'll have more to say about that.
07:07I do want to point out that various articles that
07:11appeared prior to my entering office — and
07:15here's one.
07:17The FAA's diversity push includes focus on hiring
07:20people with severe intellectual and
07:23psychiatric disabilities.
07:27That is amazing.
07:28And then it says, FAA says people with severe
07:31disabilities are most underrepresented segment of
07:35the workforce, and they want them in and they want
07:37them — they can be air traffic controllers.
07:40I don't think so.
07:41This was on January 14th, so that was a week before
07:47I entered office.
07:48They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA's
07:53program.
07:54Then, another article, the Federal Aviation
07:58Administration — this was before I got to office,
08:03recently, second term — the FAA is actively
08:07recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual
08:11disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental
08:14and physical conditions under a diversity and
08:17inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on
08:20the agency's website.
08:21Can you imagine?
08:22These are people that are — I mean, actually, their
08:27lives are shortened because of the stress
08:30that they have.
08:32Brilliant people have to be in those positions, and
08:36their lives are actually shortened — very
08:37substantially shortened because of the stress
08:40where you have many, many planes coming into one
08:42target.
08:44And you need a very special talent and a very special
08:48genius to be able to do it.
08:50Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the
08:53federal government, as a matter of policy, has
08:55identified for special emphasis in recruitment
08:58and hiring.
08:59The FAA's website states they include hearing,
09:03vision, missing extremities, partial
09:06paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy,
09:09severe intellectual disability, psychiatric
09:12disability, and dwarfism all qualify for the
09:17position of a controller of airplanes pouring into
09:22our country, pouring into a little spot, a little
09:25dot on the map, a little runway.
09:28The initiative is part of the FAA's Diversity and
09:32Inclusion Hiring Plan.
09:33Think of that.
09:34The initiative is part of the FAA's Diversity and
09:38Inclusion Hiring Plan, which says diversity is
09:41integral to achieving FAA's mission of ensuring
09:44safe and efficient travel.
09:46I don't think so.
09:47I don't think so.
09:47I think it's just the opposite.
09:49The FAA website shows that the agency's guidance on
09:53diversity hiring were last updated on March 23rd
09:58of 22.
09:58They wanted to make it even more so.
10:01And then I came in, and I assume maybe this is the
10:04reason.
10:05The FAA, which is overseen by Secretary Pete
10:09Buttigieg, a real winner.
10:12That guy is a real winner.
10:13Do you know how badly everything has run since
10:15he's run the Department of Transportation?
10:17He's a disaster.
10:20He was a disaster as a mayor.
10:22He ran his city into the ground, and he's a
10:25disaster now.
10:26He's just got a good line of bullshit.
10:29The Department of Transportation, his
10:32government agency charged with regulating civil
10:35aviation.
10:35Well, he runs it, 45,000 people, and he's run it
10:39right into the ground with his diversity.
10:42So I had to say that it's terrible.
10:46Then it's a group within the FAA, another story,
10:50determined that the workforce was too white,
10:53that they had concerted efforts to get the
10:58administration to change that and to change it
11:01immediately.
11:02This was in the Obama administration, just
11:05prior to my getting there.
11:07And we took care of African Americans, Hispanic
11:10Americans.
11:11We took care of everybody at levels that nobody has
11:14ever seen before.
11:14It's one of the reasons I won.
11:16But they actually came out with a directive, too
11:18white.
11:20And we want the people that are competent.
11:24But now we mourn and we pray, and we'd like to
11:27ask all Americans to join me in a moment of silence
11:30as we ask God to watch over those who have lost
11:32their lives and bring comfort to the loved ones.
11:36And I just want to say, God bless everyone in this
11:40room.
11:40This has been a terrible, very short period of time.
11:45We'll get to the bottom of it.
11:47So we all saw the same thing.
11:50We've seen it many times.
11:51I've had the honor of hearing tapes.
11:55Tapes are scary, very scary tapes.
12:00You had a airliner coming in, American Airlines.
12:05He was doing everything right.
12:07He was on track.
12:08He was the same track as everybody else that came
12:10in.
12:11It's probably the same track as they've had for
12:1225 years or more.
12:15He's coming in the path.
12:17And for some reason, he had a helicopter that was
12:23at the same height, obviously, when they hit,
12:26but pretty much the same height, and going at an
12:30angle that was unbelievably bad.
12:34When the air traffic controller said, do you
12:38see?
12:39You know, he was talking about, do you see him?
12:41But there was very little time left when that was
12:43stated.
12:44And then also, he said, follow him in.
12:47And then, almost immediately after that,
12:50you know, seconds after that, there was the crash
12:53that took place.
12:54Well, you follow him in.
12:55That means, like, everything's fine.
12:57Follow him in.
12:57You had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the
13:05helicopter.
13:06I mean, because it was visual.
13:07It was a very clear night.
13:10It was cold, but clear and clear as you could be.
13:15The American Airlines plane had lights blazing.
13:19They had all their landing lights on.
13:22I could see it from the Kennedy Center tape.
13:24We had a tape up on the Kennedy Center.
13:27That seems to be the primary.
13:28Thus far, I'm sure we'll see other tapes because
13:30it's such a an area where there are a lot of
13:32cameras, a lot of cameras looking up into the air,
13:36into space.
13:38So we'll probably see many other shots of it before
13:40too much time goes by.
13:42But we had a situation where you had a helicopter
13:48that had the ability to stop.
13:50I have helicopters.
13:51You can stop a helicopter very quickly.
13:54It had the ability to go up or down.
13:56It had the ability to turn, and the turn it made was
14:01not the correct turn, obviously.
14:05And it did somewhat the opposite of what it was told.
14:09We don't know that that would have been the
14:10difference because the timing was so tight.
14:12It was so — it was so little — there was so
14:15little time to think.
14:17But what you did have is you had vision.
14:20The helicopter had vision of the plane because you
14:24had vision of it all the way — perfect vision of
14:26it all the way from — at Kennedy Center, where the
14:29tape was taken.
14:31And for some reason, there weren't adjustments made.
14:34Again, you could have slowed down the
14:36helicopter substantially.
14:37You could have stopped the helicopter.
14:39You could have gone up.
14:40You could have gone down.
14:40You could have gone straight up, straight down.
14:42You could have turned.
14:43You could have done a million different maneuvers.
14:46For some reason, it just kept going and then made a
14:52slight turn at the very end.
14:55And it was — by that time, it was too late.
14:59They shouldn't have been at the same height because
15:02if it was at the same height, you could have
15:04gone under it or over it.
15:05And nobody realized, or they didn't say, that it's
15:09at the same height.
15:11At the same height, it would — it still wouldn't
15:13have been great, but you would have missed it by
15:14quite a bit.
15:15It could have been 1,000 feet higher.
15:17It could have been 200 feet lower.
15:19But it was exactly at the same height, and somebody
15:21should have been able to point that out.
15:23So all of this is going to be studied, but it just
15:26seems to me, from a couple of words that I like to
15:30use — the words, common sense — some really bad
15:35things happened, and some things happened that
15:38shouldn't have happened.
15:40So you had a helicopter going in identical
15:44direction.
15:45You had a helicopter that was at the exact same
15:48height as somebody going in, essentially, the
15:50opposite direction.
15:52You had a plane that was following a track, which
15:54is a track that every other plane followed.
15:57And I don't imagine — I know I've heard today
16:00that they might have been following the preceding
16:02plane, which was pretty close, but not that
16:04close — the preceding plane.
16:06But you wouldn't have even been able to see that
16:08because of the direction that the helicopter was
16:10coming in at.
16:11So you had a confluence of bad decisions that were
16:16made, and you have people that lost their lives —
16:22violently lost their lives.
16:26We're going to take a few questions.
16:28I'd like to ask our new Secretary of
16:30Transportation to say a few words.
16:32Sean Duffy.
16:33He's a great gentleman.
16:34Just started.
16:35It's not your fault, and I know you agree with me
16:39very strongly on intellect and even psychological
16:43well-being of the air traffic control.
16:46Such an important position.
16:48And I think I can't emphasize stronger, I
16:51changed it when I first ran in 2016.
16:54I changed it.
16:56We had the highest standard that you could
16:57have, and then they changed it back.
17:02That was Biden to a standard you just — I
17:05read it to you.
17:06That was from one of your papers.
17:08One of the people in this room actually wrote that.
17:12And then I changed it back a few days ago.
17:15And, unfortunately, that was — we'll see.
17:21We don't know that necessarily it's even the
17:23controller's fault.
17:25But one thing we do know, there was a lot of vision
17:27and people should have been able to see that, you
17:29know, at what point do you stop?
17:31At what point do you say, wow, that plane is
17:32getting a little bit close?
17:34So this is a tragedy that should not have happened.
17:37Please, sir.
17:38The Press Thank you, Mr. President.
17:42And I would just note the President's leadership has
17:45been remarkable during this crisis.
17:48We have had a whole-of-government
17:49response — local, state, federal.
17:53And when you see that kind of cooperation, it
17:56begins with the leadership in this body.
17:59So thank you for that, Mr. President.
18:00You make our jobs a lot easier.
18:03You made an important point that when we deal with
18:07safety, we can only accept the best and the brightest
18:11in positions of safety that impact the lives of our
18:16loved ones, our family members.
18:18And I think you make a really important point on
18:19that, Mr. President.
18:20That is the motto of your presidency — the best and
18:23the brightest, the most intelligent coming into
18:25these spaces.
18:26I want to take a moment and extend my condolences to
18:30the families of the loved ones.
18:32We commit to them that we are going to get to the
18:35bottom of this investigation — not in
18:38three years, not in four years, but as quickly as
18:40possible — with the NTSB, who is here today, as well
18:43as the FAA.
18:45What happened yesterday shouldn't have happened.
18:48It should not have happened.
18:50And when Americans take off in airplanes, they should
18:53expect to land at their destination.
18:56That didn't happen yesterday.
18:58That's unacceptable.
18:59And so we will not accept excuses.
19:02We will not accept passing the buck.
19:07We are going to take responsibility at the
19:09Department of Transportation and the FAA
19:11to make sure we have the reforms that have been
19:14dictated by President Trump in place to make sure
19:17that these mistakes do not happen again.
19:20And again, I want to thank you for your leadership,
19:21Mr. President.
19:21And I appreciate the confidence you placed in me.
19:27Mr. Gibbs.
19:28The Press Well, thank you, Mr. President.
19:35Again, I want to echo what the Transportation
19:37Secretary said about your leadership.
19:39From the moment we found out about this, we were
19:41in contact with the White House trying to determine
19:43exactly what happened.
19:45I would echo it as well.
19:46No excuses.
19:47We're going to get to the bottom of this.
19:50We, first and foremost, from the Defense
19:51Department, want to pass our condolences to the 64
19:54souls and their families that were affected by this.
19:59Never should happen.
20:00And certainly the three service members, the three
20:02soldiers, the young captain, staff sergeant,
20:06and the CW2 Chief Warrant Officer, on a routine
20:10annual retraining of night flights on a standard
20:13corridor for a continuity of government mission.
20:18The military does dangerous things.
20:19It does routine things on a regular basis.
20:22Tragically, last night, a mistake was made, and I
20:25think the President is right.
20:27There was some sort of an elevation issue that we
20:31have immediately begun investigating at the DOD
20:33and Army level.
20:35Army CID is on the ground investigating.
20:37Top-tier aviation assets inside the DOD are
20:40investigating, sir, to get to the bottom of it so
20:43that it does not happen again because it's
20:45absolutely unacceptable.
20:46But I want to echo what the Transportation
20:49Secretary and you, Mr. President, said, because
20:51it pertains to the DOD as well.
20:54We will have the best and brightest in every
20:56position possible.
20:57As you said in your inaugural, it is
20:59colorblind and merit-based.
21:02The best leaders possible, whether it's flying
21:05Blackhawks and flying airplanes, leading
21:07platoons, or in government.
21:10The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department,
21:15and we need the best and brightest whether it's in
21:16our air traffic control, or whether it's in our
21:19generals, or whether it's throughout government.
21:21So, thank you for your leadership and courage
21:23on that, sir, and we'll stand by you on it.
21:25Mr. Gibbs Well, thank you, Mr. President, for
21:33your leadership.
21:33I just want to reemphasize something the
21:35President said, and you've heard from the
21:36Secretary of Transportation and of Defense.
21:39There really was a whole-of-government
21:40response.
21:41We were all on the phone.
21:41We were all communicating yesterday,
21:43trying to get to the bottom of this
21:44immediately, but also try to communicate with the
21:47American people about what happened.
21:49Something the President said that I think bears
21:51reemphasizing, which is that when you don't have
21:54the best standards in who you're hiring, it means,
21:57on the one hand, you're not getting the best people
21:59in government, but on the other hand, it puts
22:01stresses on the people who are already there.
22:04And I think that is a core part of what President
22:06Trump is going to bring and has already brought to
22:09Washington, D.C.
22:10is, we want to hire the best people because we
22:12want the best people at air traffic control, and we
22:14want to make sure we have enough people at air
22:16traffic control who are actually competent to do
22:19the job.
22:19If you go back to just some of the headlines over
22:21the past 10 years, you have many hundreds of
22:24people suing the government because they
22:26would like to be air traffic controllers, but
22:27they were turned away because of the color of
22:29their skin.
22:30That policy ends under Donald Trump's leadership
22:32because safety is the first priority of our
22:35aviation industry.
22:36Thank you, Mr. President.
22:36The Press.
22:37Mr. President, on DEI and the claims that you've
22:42made, are you saying this crash was somehow caused
22:45and the result of diversity hiring?
22:47And what evidence have you seen to support these
22:50claims?
22:50The President It just could have been.
22:51We have a high standard.
22:52We've had a higher, much higher standard than
22:55anybody else.
22:56And there are things where you have to go by brain
22:58power, you have to go by psychological quality.
23:03And psychological quality is a very important
23:06element of it.
23:07These are various, very powerful tests that we
23:09put to use, and they were terminated by Biden.
23:12And Biden went by a standard that's the exact
23:14opposite.
23:15So we don't know.
23:16But we do know that you had two planes at the same
23:19level.
23:19You had an air helicopter and a plane.
23:21That shouldn't have happened.
23:23And we'll see.
23:24We're going to look into that, and we're going to
23:25see.
23:26But certainly, for an air traffic controller, we
23:29want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest.
23:32We want somebody that's psychologically superior.
23:36And that's what we're going to have.
23:37Yeah.
23:38Yeah, please.
23:39Go ahead.
23:39Yeah, please.
23:40Go ahead.
23:41The Press Yes, we will.
23:57We've already been in contact with Russia, and
23:59the answer is, yes, we will facilitate.
24:01Yes.
24:02Please, go ahead.
24:05The Press Thank you, Mr. President.
24:08The situation in the Democratic Republic of the
24:10Congo is getting worse.
24:12Even though President John Lorenzo has been
24:14mediating the conflict between Rwanda and the
24:18Democratic Republic of the Congo because he wants
24:19to bring peace and stability, the situation
24:22is really bad right now.
24:24I want to hear from Mr. President if you have any
24:26plan in the future to bring peace in the
24:29Democratic Republic of the Congo.
24:30The President Well, you're asking me a question
24:31about Rwanda, and it is a very serious problem.
24:33I agree.
24:33I don't think it's appropriate right now to
24:35talk about it, but it is a very serious problem.
24:37The Press Mr. President, we don't even yet know the
24:39names of the 67 people who were killed, and you are
24:42blaming Democrats and DEI policies and air traffic
24:45control and, seemingly, the member of the U.S.
24:48military who was flying that Black Hawk helicopter.
24:50Don't you think you're getting ahead of the
24:51investigation right now?
24:52The President No, I don't think so at all.
24:53I don't think we're the names of the people.
24:55You mean the names of the people that are on the plane?
24:59You think that's going to make a difference?
25:00They are they are a group of people that have lost
25:03their lives.
25:04If you want a list of the names, we can give you that.
25:07We'll be giving that very soon.
25:08We're in coordination with American Airlines.
25:11We're in coordination very strongly, obviously, with
25:13the military.
25:14But I think that's not a very smart question.
25:17I'm surprised coming from you.
25:18Please.
25:19Please.
25:19The Press Thank you, President Trump.
25:21Thank you for being here.
25:23Based on your analysis so far, do you have a sense
25:25of who was at fault?
25:27If it was the plane, the helicopter, air traffic
25:29control?
25:30And can you assure people that it is safe to fly in
25:32and out of D.C.?
25:33The President Well, I've given you the analysis,
25:35and the analysis was it was based on vision.
25:39You had a lot of people that saw what was
25:43happening.
25:43You had some people that knew what was happening.
25:47There was some warnings, but the warnings were
25:48given very, very late.
25:50You know, those warnings were given very late.
25:51It was almost as they were given a few seconds later
25:54there was a crash.
25:55It should have been brought up earlier.
25:59But the people in the helicopter should have
26:02seen where they were going.
26:05I can't imagine people with 20-20 vision not
26:10seeing, you know, what's happening up there.
26:14Again, they shouldn't have been at the same height.
26:17You're going in reverse directions or sideways
26:20directions.
26:22Obviously, you want to be at different heights.
26:24I see it all the time when I'm flying.
26:26You have planes going in the opposite.
26:28They're always lower.
26:29They're always higher.
26:30So if somehow there's a screw-up, there's not
26:34going to be a tragedy.
26:35It'll be close.
26:36But, you know, there's never going to be a
26:37tragedy if you're at a different elevation.
26:39For whatever reason, they were at the same
26:41elevation.
26:42And also, from the American Airlines Center,
26:45he's along the track that every plane is along.
26:49You say, what was the helicopter doing in that
26:52track?
26:53It's very sad.
26:54But visually, somebody should have been able to
26:57see and taken that helicopter out of play.
27:00And they should have been at a different height.
27:02All right?
27:02The Press Thank you, sir.
27:05You mentioned the Russians that were on board that
27:07plane.
27:08What other nationalities were on board that
27:10passenger plane?
27:10The President There were a couple of others.
27:11We're going to be announcing it in about an
27:13hour.
27:13We have some very specific information.
27:17We're calling the countries.
27:18We've spoken to most of them, but there were some
27:20other countries represented.
27:21The Press Have you spoken to President Putin?
27:25The President I have not, no.
27:26Not about this.
27:28The Press On your executive order, you've
27:30already issued an executive order.
27:31You say we'll restore aviation safety.
27:33The President Right.
27:34The Press This crash happened after that.
27:36Was the executive order successful?
27:37And what more do you need to change to keep people
27:39safe?
27:40The President Well, you know, we issued it three
27:41days ago, and we were in the process of making
27:44those changes.
27:44This is something that should have been done a
27:49long time ago.
27:50Actually, my original order should have never
27:52been changed, and I think maybe you wouldn't have
27:54had this problem.
27:54Maybe.
27:55Yeah, please.
27:56Go ahead.
27:56The Press Yes.
27:58We see, like, everyday life that's very often
28:01that those diversity hires cause sometimes issues, as
28:05you just mentioned.
28:07So, what plan do you have?
28:09Are we going to see some fire?
28:10Are you going to fire some of those diversity hire
28:13in the federal government?
28:14What plan do you have?
28:15The President I would say the answer is yes.
28:17If we find that people aren't mentally
28:20competent, you see the language.
28:22The language is put out by them.
28:25And if you see that — I'm not going to bore you
28:28by reading it again, but these are not people that
28:31should be doing this particular job.
28:32They'd be very good for certain jobs, but not
28:34people that should be doing this particular job.
28:36The Press Mr. President, you have today blamed the
28:42diversity elements, but then told us that you
28:46weren't sure that the controllers made any
28:48mistakes.
28:49You then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were
28:52the ones who made the mistakes.
28:54The President It's all under investigation.
28:56The Press I understand that.
28:57That's why I'm trying to figure out how you can
28:59come to the conclusion right now that diversity
29:02had something to do with this crash.
29:03The President Because I have common sense, okay?
29:06And unfortunately, a lot of people don't.
29:10We want brilliant people doing this.
29:12This is a major chess game at the highest level.
29:15When you have 60 planes coming in during a short
29:19period of time, and they're all coming in
29:20different directions, and you're dealing with very
29:23high-level computer, computer work and very
29:27complex computers.
29:29And one of the other things I will tell you is
29:31that the systems that were built, I was going to
29:34rebuild the entire system.
29:36And then we had an election that didn't turn
29:38out the way it should have.
29:40But they didn't build the systems properly.
29:42They spent a lot of money renovating a system,
29:45spending much more money than they would have
29:47spent if they bought a new system for air traffic
29:49controllers, meaning the computerized systems.
29:52There are certain companies that do a very
29:54good job.
29:55They didn't use those companies.
29:56They use companies that should not have been doing it.
29:59No, I think this.
30:00I think it's very important to understand that for
30:03some jobs, and not only this, but air traffic
30:05controllers, they have to be at the highest level
30:09of genius.
30:10Okay.
30:11The Press I want to ask you about the ice skaters in a
30:15moment because the U.S.
30:15Ice Skating Committee was affected.
30:17But first, if I can, the cited FAA tax that you
30:19read is real.
30:20But the implication that this policy is new or that
30:23it stems from efforts that began under President
30:25Biden or the Transportation Secretary,
30:27Pete Buttigieg, is demonstrably false.
30:29It's been on the FAA's website.
30:30Who said that?
30:31You?
30:31No, it's on the website.
30:32The FAA's website.
30:33It was there in 2013.
30:34It was there for the entirety of your
30:37administration, too.
30:38So my question is, why didn't you change the
30:40policy during your first administration?
30:42I did change it.
30:43I changed the Obama policy.
30:45And we had a very good policy.
30:46And then Biden came in, and he changed it.
30:48And then, when I came in two days, three days ago,
30:51I signed a new order bringing it to the highest
30:54level of intelligence.
30:55Okay.
30:56Please.
30:56Quiet.
30:57Quiet.
30:58The Press Welcome back to the — I'm sorry.
31:02You mentioned that a vision was the — probably the
31:05problem that was at issue in this crash.
31:08There's been some reports that one of the pilots in
31:10the helicopter may have been using night-vision
31:12equipment.
31:13Was there any indication?
31:14I heard that.
31:14We don't know.
31:15We're going to know that pretty soon.
31:17It may change your viewpoint if you do have
31:20the night vision.
31:20So it's very possible that could have happened.
31:23That would be — that would be maybe a reason why
31:26you wouldn't actually see as well as on a clear
31:29night.
31:29You can see sometimes better without it.
31:31I have a couple more.
31:33The Press Mr. President, is it helpful to have your
31:36Secretary of Transportation confirmed?
31:38And does this intensify your interest in getting
31:40other nominees confirmed quickly?
31:42Go ahead.
31:42Go ahead.
31:43What?
31:44Is it helpful to have your Secretary of
31:45Transportation confirmed?
31:46And does this intensify your interest in getting
31:49other nominees confirmed quickly as well?
31:50Well, sure.
31:51We want fast confirmations.
31:52And the Democrats, as you know, are doing everything
31:56they can to delay them.
31:56They've taken too long.
31:58We're — we're struggling to get very good people
32:02that everybody knows are going to be confirmed, but
32:05we're struggling to get them out faster.
32:08We want them out faster.
32:09It's a good question, actually.
32:10We — we've been pushing Sean.
32:13Everyone knows Sean for a long time.
32:16He got many, many Democrat votes, but they want to
32:18take as long as they can.
32:19They ask questions like some of the questions
32:22that Peter would ask that were totally irrelevant
32:25and not very good questions.
32:27But they want to just keep it going.
32:28They want to keep it going as long as possible.
32:30I was very honored, actually, that you got so
32:33many Democrat votes.
32:34That was really good.
32:35That was really good.
32:36The Press Thank you, Mr. President.
32:37When I plan to — when I plan to meet with the
32:43families — and second question, is it your
32:45impression that a little training was done during
32:48that time?
32:49The President The what?
32:50The Press The training that the helicopter was
32:52involved in, is it — anything you can tell us
32:54about that?
32:54The President You don't know.
32:55These are the things that will come up with the
32:56investigation.
32:57You don't know.
32:58But the helicopter, obviously, was in the
33:00wrong place at the wrong time, and a tragedy
33:04occurred.
33:04Please.
33:05The Press Thank you, Mr. President.
33:06The Press I've got a question about New York.
33:08The President No, go ahead.
33:09Please.
33:09The Press Thank you, Mr. President.
33:11You're critical of the current regulations, and
33:14you've called for big reforms at FAA.
33:16I'm curious, sir, what is —
33:19The President Well, I made the reforms, actually.
33:20Three days ago, I made them.
33:22The Press Yes, sir.
33:22And what is your message, then, to the American
33:24public in the weeks and months ahead?
33:25Should they feel hesitant to fly?
33:28And if you could clarify, perhaps, something that
33:31the Secretary said when he said that this
33:34helicopter went on a continuity-of-government
33:36mission?
33:37The President I don't know what that — what that
33:40refers to.
33:41But they were practicing.
33:43They were — they do that.
33:44They call it practicing.
33:45And they were — and that's something that
33:49should be done.
33:50It's only continuity in the sense that we want to
33:52have very good people, and that has to be in
33:55continuity.
33:56And that's what they refer to.
33:58But it was basically practice, and it was a
34:00practice that worked out very, very badly.
34:03Okay?
34:04The Press Yes, sir.
34:05On his question — the first question, should
34:11people be hesitant to fly right now?
34:13The President No, not at all.
34:14I do not hesitate to fly.
34:16I — this is something that — it's been many
34:19years that something like this has happened.
34:21And the collision is just something that we don't
34:27expect ever to happen.
34:27Again, we are going to have the highest-level
34:31people.
34:31And you've already hired some of the people that
34:33you've already hired for that position.
34:35Long before we knew about this — I mean, long
34:37before — from the time I came in, we started going
34:40out and getting the best people because I said
34:42it's not — it's not appropriate what they're
34:45doing.
34:45I think it's a tremendous mistake.
34:47You know, they like to do things and they like to
34:49take them too far.
34:50And this is sometimes what ends up happening.
34:52Now, with that, I'm not blaming the controller.
34:56I'm saying there are things that you could
34:58question, like the height of the helicopter and the
35:00height of the plane being at the same level and
35:02going in opposite directions.
35:03It's not a positive.
35:05But, no, we're already hiring people.
35:08No, flying is very safe.
35:09We have the safest flying anywhere in the world,
35:11and we'll keep it that way.
35:13Thank you all very much.
35:15Thank you very much.