President Donald Trump suggested without evidence on Thursday that the deadly midair collision of two aircraft in Washington was the result of the Federal Aviation Administration’s efforts to hire a more diverse workforce.
Trump leveled the accusation at a White House press conference called to update Americans on the Wednesday night crash in which a passenger jet about to land at Reagan National Airport collided with an Army helicopter on a training flight.
The cause of the air crash is not yet clear, and there is no evidence that efforts to make the federal workforce more diverse have compromised air safety.
Yet Trump used the briefing to step up his rhetoric on the issue, in this case criticizing the FAA, which regulates commercial U.S. air travel.
“The FAA diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing,” Trump said, claiming the FAA wanted people “with severe disabilities, the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in and they want them – they can be air traffic controllers.”
Asked how he could blame diversity, equity and inclusion hiring for the crash without yet knowing who was at fault, Trump said, “because I have common sense.”
“Air traffic controllers have to be at the highest level of genius,” he added.
A former FAA official told Reuters that air traffic controllers undergo rigorous testing – mentally and physically – before they are hired.
Trump’s comments drew criticism from aviation safety experts, disability rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers.
The Republican president has made sweeping away any policy aimed at supporting diversity a hallmark of his fledgling administration, part of a broader effort to shrink, purge and remake the U.S. federal government to conform to his political priorities.
Later on Thursday, Trump issued an executive memorandum directing his administration to assess and undo diversity initiatives in aviation safety roles.
Trump last week signed an order calling for the elimination of government diversity programs, including the ending of all federal offices and jobs related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and put all federal DEI office staff on paid leave as their offices face closure.
Advocates of DEI programs and initiatives say they are necessary to address longstanding inequities and structural racism affecting marginalized communities.
“As part of any investigation we look at the human, the machine and the environment,” said National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, when asked about Trump’s comments. “We look at facts in our investigation, and that will take some time.”
The board is tasked with investigating air disasters independently.
The FAA did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s claims.
There were no survivors among the 64 people on the jet and three soldiers on the helicopter, making the crash the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.
“Blaming a natural aircraft disaster on people with disabilities and the programs designed to foster integration is unfounded,” said James Ward, founder and executive director of ADA Watch/Coalition for Disability Rights & Justice.
“It is ableist, bigoted and puts a target on the backs of people with disabilities, physically endangering us.”
Anthony Brickhouse, an aviation safety expert, said diversity efforts made no difference to safety standards.
“Finding out what happened to cause an accident and making changes to get better is what safety is about,” he said. “This isn’t the time for politics, this isn’t the time for an agenda.”
Trump specifically criticized Pete Buttigieg, who was transportation secretary for former President Joe Biden.
Responding to Trump’s suggestion that DEI played a role in the crash, Buttigieg wrote on X: “Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying.”
