Faced with the first big test of his new administration, Donald Trump wanted to show he was in control. Not just as America’s consoler-in-chief, but as its chief prosecutor and air accident investigator-in-chief too.
Trump started his White House briefing on a midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter in Washington with a traditional presidential tone and a moment of silence in what he called an “hour of anguish for a nation.”
But he quickly pivoted to blame — and culture war politics.
He blamed the helicopter pilots for the crash that killed 67 people. He blamed night-vision goggles. He talked about landing tracks and altitudes.
“We have some very strong opinions,” Trump announced.
Above all, the 78-year-old Republican blamed the crash on diversity hires, in an astonishing attack on his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“Because I have common sense, OK? ” Trump replied when asked how he had reached the conclusion that programs to counter racism and sexism had played a role.
But the underlying message as Trump took the podium, flanked by a parade of tribute-paying officials, was that he had the situation under control — and the crash wasn’t his administration’s fault.
The deadliest US plane crash for a decade came as questions swirl about Trump’s plans for a radical right-wing reshaping of the federal government — including its aviation agency.
– ‘Not your fault’ –
Trump’s briefing had echoes of his appearances during the Covid pandemic in his first term when the abiding theme was: only I can fix this.
On one famous occasion Trump mused about injecting disinfectant as a “cleaning” for the disease.
Like then, Trump’s first instinct on Thursday was to put himself at the center of the story, and to launch political attacks on his opponents.
And, like then, Trump rolled out people to praise him. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Secretary of Defense chief Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance were all called up to the famed lectern.
“It’s not your fault,” Trump said as he summoned a stunned-looking Duffy, who was sworn in less than six hours before the crash.
Duffy duly said the “president’s leadership has been remarkable.”
Hegseth took his turn, thanking Trump for his “leadership and courage” in what he calls a war on “woke” politics in the military, including a ban on transgender service members.
It was far from the first time Trump had used the traditional presidential role as consoler of the nation in times of tragedy to attack his opponents.
Last week he visited victims in fire-scorched California and hurricane-hit North Carolina — launching broadsides at Democrats and threatening to shut down the federal disaster agency.
– ‘Madness’ –
But Trump’s preemptive assault on diversity on Thursday allowed him to deflect wider questions about whether his purge of the federal government will strain the agencies he will need to probe the air crash — and future crises like it.
It came just a day after the White House was forced into a major climbdown, rescinding an order freezing funds for federal aid that caused chaos across the country.
The Federal Aviation Adminstration had no full-time leader at the time of the crash because its leader stepped down on inauguration day after Trump’s cost-cutting chief Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, demanded that he quit.
Trump announced a replacement during the briefing on Thursday.
The FAA was also one of the first targets for Trump’s slew of executive orders after his inauguration, with one targeting diversity “madness” at the agency.
The spotlight also remains on Hegseth, a former Fox TV contributor and military veteran, who is also in his first week in the job.
His campaign against “woke” in the US military was criticized by his predecessor Lloyd Austin, who said that rejecting “qualified patriots” would make the armed forces “weaker.”
Hegseth is also under pressure to deliver after squeaking through his confirmation process due to allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and concerns over inexperience.