Facing first tragedy of his presidency, Trump blames DEI, Obama for plane crash

Sixty-seven people are presumed to be dead after a passenger plane collided Wednesday night with a US Army helicopter midair while approaching Reagan National Airport. Rather than provide measured leadership, Trump blamed DEI and Democrats for the deadly accident.

Donald Trump on Thursday implied that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs could be the cause of a deadly aircraft collision over the Potomac River that occurred on Wednesday night in Washington DC, although an investigation into the incident has only just begun.

Sixty-seven people are presumed to be dead after a passenger plane collided with a US Army helicopter midair while approaching Reagan National Airport. 

A preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report says that staffing at the air control tower at Reagan National was “not normal” last night – one controller was managing both helicopters in the vicinity and planes. These tasks are typically divided between two controllers, according to the report. 

Just hours earlier, however, before any details had emerged of what may have caused the accident, Trump suggested DEI hiring practices could be to blame. After he was pressed by reporters about whether he really believed the crash was the result of diversity hiring practices, Trump reiterated his stance. 

“It just could have been,” Trump said at the press conference, without providing evidence. 

When asked again why he thought diversity hiring was to blame for the crash, he said: “Because I have common sense.” 

Trump, however, did not discuss any of the moves he’s made that are now drawing renewed scrutiny after the crash. 

Trump last week fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), as well as eliminated all of the members of a key aviation security advisory group. Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, also stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job amid pressure from billionaire Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest allies and his largest campaign donor.

Trump also spent a substantial amount of time during the press conference blaming the FAA’s DEI initiatives under former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, even as one of those programs — which focused on recruiting people with disabilities — existed during his first administration as well. 

Trump also called former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who served under President Biden, a “disaster.”

Buttigieg responded to Trump’s remarks in a post on X, calling his comments “despicable.”

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” the post reads. “President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.” 

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement provided to NBC News that he was “disgusted” by the president’s remarks during the press conference. 

“The President has made his decision to put politics over people abundantly clear as he uses the highest office in the land to sow hatred rooted in falsehoods instead of providing us with the leadership we need and deserve,” Johnson said. 

Trump’s suggestion that DEI was to blame represents just the latest effort of his administration to pin many of the country’s problems on diversity initiatives. Just last week during the second day of his second term, Trump issued an executive order declaring that DEI programs across the federal government will end, including at the FAA.

The president said his order was “very powerful, and restoring the highest standards of air traffic controllers.”

“We have to have our smartest people” as air traffic controllers, Trump said at the press conference. “It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are…they have to be talented, naturally talented. Geniuses. Can’t have regular people doing their job. We can’t have regular people doing this job. They won’t be able to do it, but we’ll restore faith in American air travel.”

Trump’s argument was met with intense skepticism from Tennesse Garvey, a pilot for 22 years who is Black. 

“There’s never been any proof that DEI causes any safety issues, because it doesn’t,” Garvey told NBC News last week after Trump’s order. “And if there’s something wrong with aviation in America, how can DEI be the problem? There are only 4% Black pilots operating within this space.”

Trump’s effort to put scrutiny on DEI programs also obscures the reality that the FAA has had a shortage of air traffic controllers for years, and the Trump administration’s desire to take a blowtorch to the federal government and pressure federal workers into taking buyouts would almost certainly exacerbate the shortage.