Trump Criticizes Faa Diversity Efforts After Deadly Plane Crash, Even As He Says He Doesn't Know The Cause Yet

Trump speaking at the White House on Thursday following the crash.

Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images

• Trump suggested on Thursday that diversity initiatives at the FAA led to a plane crash near DC.
• The president said he was offering a series of "very strong opinions and ideas" on what happened.
• He also criticized former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance offered heated criticism on Thursday for diversity initiatives at the Federal Aviation Administration following a deadly plane crash near Washington, DC.

After calling for a moment of silence, Trump spent the bulk of his remarks in the White House briefing room laying out a series of diversity initiatives within the FAA that he suggested could have contributed to the crash, which took place in Wednesday evening.

At the same time, Trump repeatedly acknowledged that he did not have direct evidence of a causal link between those initiatives and the crash.

"We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," Trump told reporters.

During his remarks, Trump also criticized former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, suggesting that their policies contributed to the crash.

"You know how badly everything's run since he's run the Department of Transportation?" Trump said of Buttigieg.

Buttigieg later fired back via X: "As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying."

Pressed by a reporter on why he thought diversity initiatives might be behind the crash, Trump replied: "Because I have common sense."

Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP, said in a statement that his organization was "disgusted by this display of unpresidential, divisive behavior."

"We're proud to see thousands of first responders in the DMV region unify to support the enormous recovery efforts taking place on the Potomac," Johnson said. "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."

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation, pushed back strongly on Trump's comments in a call with reporters.

"I have seen zero evidence at this point that's to suggest that this collision had anything to do with DEI," Duckworth said. "Speculation at this time is highly irresponsible, and we need to get to the facts."

Vance also criticized diversity initiatives, saying: "If you go back to just some of the headlines over the past 10 years, you have many hundreds of people suing the government because they would like to be air traffic controllers, but they were turned away because of the color of their skin. That policy ends under Donald Trump's leadership."

Since Trump reassumed the presidency last week, he's taken a series of actions aimed at ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the federal government, including one dealing specifically with the FAA. As a result, DEI-related offices in various agencies have shuttered.

Trump has directed agencies to compile lists of private companies to probe over their DEI efforts, leading to a potential cascade effect in the private sector.

Many companies, including Meta, McDonald's, and Walmart, have decided in recent months to roll back or end their DEI programs.

"The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing," Meta wrote in a memo to employees. "The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made decisions signaling a shift in how courts will approach DEI."

Target also recently announced it was ending multiple DEI programs in an effort to stay "in step with the evolving external landscape."

Others, like Costco, have publicly supported DEI amid pressures from conservative activists. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently defended the bank's diversity initiatives in response to activist investors.