U.S. President Donald Trump gave an extraordinary update on the crash. It started with him offering condolences, but Trump quickly shifted his tone, criticizing the FAA's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices and suggesting they caused safety issues.

Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump recently addressed a deadly crash, initially offering condolences but then attributing the incident to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices instituted under the Democratic administration. During his statement, Trump expressed sorrow and called for unity, acknowledging the tragedy as a shared national heartbreak. However, he soon shifted the discussion, without providing evidence, to criticize the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) employment policies.

Trump suggested that the DEI policies may have compromised safety standards, indicating that the air traffic controller and the Blackhawk helicopter pilot should have better managed the flight path situation that led to the crash. He oscillated in his stance, sometimes blaming these individuals, while ultimately focusing his critique on Democrats' policies. Moving forward, Trump stated that the U.S. would prioritize hiring "the best and brightest" for air traffic controller positions, emphasizing that these roles require unique talents.

The President claimed he had signed an executive order to restore high standards for air traffic control positions, aiming to prevent future tragedies. This decision comes amidst his broader criticism of what he perceives as misplaced priorities in recruitment and hiring by the federal government.



Trump blames Biden, DEI policies after deadly crash

As we mentioned, President Trump gave an extraordinary update on the crash. It started off with him, as you heard off the top, offering condolences, but Trump quickly shifted tone. The CBC's Caroline Bargute joins us live now from our Washington Bureau. So, Caroline, what did we hear from Trump? That's right. You know, U.S. President Donald Trump started off with a message of unity. He said this was a real tragedy. And then he said, the U.S. is one family, and today we are all heartbroken. But as you mentioned, just like that, his message quickly turned. He said, we don't know what happened, but we have some idea what happened. And then, with absolutely no evidence, he started to point the finger at people and blame them for possibly causing this crash. He said, for example, the air traffic controller. He said the air traffic controller should have done more to keep that helicopter off of the flight path of the airplane. Then he said, of the Blackhawk helicopter, of the three soldiers that were inside, he was talking about the pilot, and he said, and the pilot of the helicopter. Why didn't the pilot see the plane? The pilot should have seen the plane. He walked back a little bit from blaming both of those. He went back and forth. He blamed them. Then he didn't blame them. But ultimately, U.S. President Donald Trump blamed diversity, equity and inclusion policies implemented under the Democrats for causing this crash. Take a listen. Can you imagine? These are people that are, I mean, actually, their lives are shortened because of the stress that they have. Brilliant people have to be in those positions. And their lives are actually shortened, very substantially shortened, because of the stress where you have many, many planes coming into one target. And you need a very special talent and a very special genius to be able to do it. Are those disabilities that the federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring? He basically said that moving forward, the U.S. will only hire the best and brightest as air traffic controllers. Trump said last week he signed an executive order restoring the highest standards for air traffic controllers. And he said that the U.S. is going to work very hard to make sure this never happens again. Caroline, thank you. This is Caroline Bargoot from our Washington Bureau.

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