President Donald Trump addressed the media following the tragic midair collision over the Potomac River, in which a military helicopter crashed into a passenger jet in what is believed to have been a preventable accident.
During his remarks, Trump emphasized the need for the military to reevaluate its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, suggesting that such hiring practices could contribute to future aviation disasters.
He also placed some responsibility on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“The FAA’s website states that individuals with hearing, vision impairments, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and dwarfism all qualify to be air traffic controllers,” Trump stated.
He argued that this initiative, as part of the FAA’s diversity hiring plan, could compromise air safety. “Diversity is ‘integral to achieving FAA’s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel,’ according to them. I don’t think so,” he added.
Trump calls out FAA's DEI push to hire people with "severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities." pic.twitter.com/OUijOzIwmX
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 30, 2025
The Trump administration has repeatedly expressed its commitment to restoring merit-based hiring by eliminating DEI offices and reinforcing military integrity.
While Trump did not assign direct blame to any individual involved in the accident, he criticized the response time of air traffic controllers. “The warnings were given very late—almost at the same time the crash happened. This should have been addressed much earlier,” he said.
He also questioned the situational awareness of those in the helicopter. “The people in the helicopter should have seen where they were going. I can’t imagine people with 20/20 vision not noticing a plane directly in their path. They shouldn’t have been flying at the same altitude,” Trump stated.
When asked if this tragedy would lead to the dismissal of so-called “diversity hires,” Trump answered affirmatively. “I would say yes—if we find that people aren’t mentally competent. You see the language they put out… These are not the people who should be handling such critical jobs,” he said.
A reporter challenged Trump on why he was linking the crash to diversity hiring while the investigation was still ongoing. “How can you conclude that diversity had something to do with this crash?” they asked.
Trump responded, “Because I have common sense, and unfortunately, a lot of people don’t. We need brilliant people in these roles. Air traffic control is like a major chess game at the highest level. When you have 60 planes arriving in a short period from different directions, you need people who can handle complex, high-level computations.”
He added, “For some jobs, you need the highest level of genius.”
Despite the tragedy, Trump reassured the public that they should have no hesitation about flying. “We will get to the bottom of this,” he said.