Trump, without evidence, appears to blame FAA diversity initiatives as factor in helicopter-plane collision
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday claimed, without evidence, that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for air traffic controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration — under Democratic presidents — were partly to blame for the tragic plane and helicopter collision in Washington on Wednesday night.
The air disaster occurred as an American Airlines passenger jet approaching Reagan Washington National Airport collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training flight.
“I put safety first, Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room, referring to the policies, even as the investigation into what happened is just getting underway.
“I had to say that it’s terrible,” he said, citing what he called a story about a group within the FAA that had “determined that the [FAA] workforce was too white, that they had concerted efforts to get the administration to change that and to change it immediately. This was in the Obama administration, just prior to my getting there, and we took care of African Americans, Hispanic Americans.”
But when a reporter pressed him, saying that similar language on DEI policies existed on the FAA’s website under Trump’s entire first term, Trump shot back, “I changed the Obama policy, and we had a very good policy and then Biden came in and he changed it. And then when I came in two days, three days ago, I said, a new order, bringing it to the highest level of intelligence.”
When asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce whether he was saying the crash was the result of diversity hiring, Trump said, “we don’t know” what caused the crash, adding investigators are still looking into that. “It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a higher, much higher standard than anybody else.”
Even as he made unfounded claims about the FAA’s diversity initiatives being a factor in the disaster, he then said the Army helicopter crew could be at fault — and claimed he wasn’t blaming the air traffic controller who communicated with the helicopter.
When asked how he could come to the conclusion that FAA diversity policies had something to do with the disaster, he said, “Because I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.”
Trump called Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary in the Biden administration, “bulls—,” and said he had “run [the Department of Transportation] right into the ground with his diversity.”
“Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” Buttigieg responded in a statement on X. “We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is making a sweeping move to ban all future offshore oil and natural gas drilling on America’s East and West coasts, the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s North Bering Sea.
“My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs. It is not worth the risks,” Biden said in a statement announcing the decision.
According to the White House fact sheet, this move blocks drilling in more than 625 million acres of U.S. oceans.
The fact sheet adds that Biden took those actions under “Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act” and adds that his actions “have no expiration date, and prohibit all future oil and natural gas leasing” in the designated areas.
“We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy, or between keeping our ocean healthy, our coastlines resilient, and the food they produce secure and keeping energy prices low. Those are false choices,” Biden added.
The fact sheet says that after this sweeping move, “Biden will have conserved more lands and waters than any other U.S. president in history.”
The action comes as President-elect Donald Trump continually made his “drill, baby, drill” promise on the campaign trail, vowing to unlock America’s drilling capabilities in an effort to lower energy costs for Americans.
But the law Biden used, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, was written so a presidential action under its authority is permanent, differing from other executive actions. If the Trump administration were to attempt to reverse Biden’s actions, Congress would likely have to change the law.
ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden said on Friday he prays the Trump administration continues the focus on the federal response to the deadly wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.
Biden said he expected the death toll to rise as he was briefed by federal and state officials in the Oval Office. At least 10 people have been killed, and more injured, as fires continue to burn through the Los Angeles area.
With just days left in office, Biden said they’ve been coordinating with the incoming administration on the federal actions being taken to assist in fire management and help victims recover.
“My hope is that they’ll have — at least acknowledge we have some significant experience in this, we’ve done really well on it. I’m praying that they continue the focus,” the president said.
More than 30,000 acres have been burned this past week as five fires sprawled from the Pacific Palisades to Pasadena. Roughly 150,000 people were under evacuation orders and thousands of structures have been destroyed, including local landmarks.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who is on the ground in Los Angeles, said the tragedy is one of the worst disasters she’s witnessed in her four years leading the agency and that the rebuild will be complex.
“This recovery journey is going to be long, but we are going to be there with them to support them every step of the way,” Criswell said as she virtually joined the White House press briefing.
Criswell said FEMA had enough money to immediately respond to the fires, highlighting the $27 billion provided for the agency’s disaster fund by Congress in December.
Pressed by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce on what the cost may be compared to other natural disasters, Criswell said it was hard to put an exact number as they continue to survey damage but that they “know that this is going to be billions.”
Criswell, discussing the transition, said FEMA has a dedicated staff that will continue to support Californians and a “whole team” dedicated to working with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition operation.
“They’re providing regular briefings to them on a daily basis and so we’re providing whatever information that they ask for,” she said.
Trump has pointed blame at Democrats, including Biden and Newsom, and spread some misinformation as the fires unfold. Criswell was asked if any such misinformation came up during their briefings with his team, though she did not directly respond.
President Biden on Thursday announced the federal government would cover 100% of the recovery costs for Los Angeles for 180 days. That would include debris removal, which the administration expects to be incredibly costly, as well as temporary shelters and pay for first responders.
“I mean, they look like a bomb hit,” Biden said on Friday on the devastation. “They look like they’re actually been blown up, entire sections of the cities blown up.”
(WASHINGTON) — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, said on Wednesday he would not “back down” as new misconduct allegations cause growing concern among Republican senators tasked with whether to confirm him.
Going public in his own defense, Hegseth also directly addressed several of the accusations for the first time in an interview with Megyn Kelly. He denied many of the claims he mistreated women and pushed back on reports he was forced out from two veterans’ nonprofit groups.
He’s also promised senators he’s stopped drinking and won’t drink if confirmed, according to Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt. Some of the misconduct accusations included claims he has been drunk in public.
“He offered up to me, and I know he has with other senators too, that he’s not drinking, and that’s not something he’s going to do when confirmed here,” Schmitt said a day after meeting with Hegseth.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which would vote to send Hegseth’s nomination to the full Senate, affirmed that Hegseth committed to not drinking if he was confirmed.
“The allegation was made about him being intoxicated at several times and so the questions that every member will be asking him led to his statement,” Wicker said.
Pressed to confirm Hegseth told him he would stop drinking altogether, Wicker replied, “That’s right, that’s exactly right.”
North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said he was encouraged by Hegseth’s pledge in their private meeting Wednesday to abstain from alcohol as defense secretary.
“He said, ‘My commitment is to not touch alcohol while I have this position,'” said Cramer, who lost a son to alcohol addiction in 2018.
“I said, ‘It’s really important that we have a clear-eyed secretary of defense if the phone rings at 3 in the morning.'” Cramer said. He said Hegseth replied that he would be clear-eyed at “3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon, and every hour in between.”
Cramer said Hegseth told him there were times when he “drank too much, but never times that I drank too much and anything improper happened.”
Hegseth said he spoke with Trump earlier on Wednesday, and said the president-elect told him: “Keep going, keep fighting. I’m behind you all the way.”
The comments come as a number of senators — at least six — have privately signaled they are not inclined to vote for him, leading Trump’s advisers to begin discussing who may be a viable replacement, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Multiple sources also told ABC News that Trump and Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about the job Tuesday and DeSantis expressed interest in it. Other possible candidates include Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and Tennessee Gov. Bill Hagerty, said sources familiar with private discussions.
As he walked with his wife through the Capitol for a third day of sit-downs with GOP lawmakers, Hegseth was peppered with questions from reporters asking if he’s committed to remaining in the running. He replied, “Why would I back down? I’ve always been a fighter. I’m here for the war fighters. This is personal and passionate for me.”
Hegseth met with Ernst on Wednesday afternoon. Ernst briefly spoke with reporters after, calling it a “throughout conversation.”
Asked by ABC’s Jay O’Brien if Hegseth alleviated any of her concerns, Ernst did not respond.
When pressed if there’s any chance she was being considered to replace Hegseth, Ernst responded: “Mr. Hegseth is the nominee.”
Shortly after he was tapped by Trump to lead the Pentagon, it was reported that Hegseth had paid a settlement agreement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017.
Over the weekend, the New Yorker, citing what it called a detailed seven-page whistleblower report, said Hegseth was forced to step down from two veterans’ nonprofit groups amid accusations of financial mismanagement, sexist behavior and other disqualifying conduct. ABC News has not independently confirmed the magazine’s account.
Hegseth denied most of the allegations against him as Kelly went through them.
He flatly denied the 2017 sexual assault allegation, saying he paid a settlement to protect his wife and career.
He pushed back on reports he was forced out of the veterans’ groups, though he didn’t dispute mismanaging funds at Veterans for Freedom, blaming it on being an “amateur.”
“Am I a perfect man? No, was I a perfect man? Absolutely not,” Hegseth said. “Do I regret those things? Yes. But is it who I am today? No, and I’m just grateful for the grace of God that gives me a new chapter.”
Hegseth’s lawyer Tim Parlatore told CNN on Wednesday his client was looking forward to doing an FBI background check.
“He knows, as I know, that FBI investigators are professionals. They’re going to go through this. They’re going to not just take a few anonymous complaints and put that in the report. They’re going to try and corroborate it,” Parlatore said. “The FBI background check is going to exonerate him of the vast majority of these claims, and so he’s very much looking forward to that.”
Parlatore claimed that while Hegseth isn’t an “angel” and that he has partied “a bit,” the onslaught of allegations coming out against him are because people are “threatened” by changes he would bring to the Pentagon.
His mother, Penelope Hegseth, also offered a defense of her son on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning.
She sent an email to her son in 2018 amid his divorce in which she wrote that he was an “abuser of women.” The email was reported by the New York Times. ABC News has not independently obtained the email.
Penelope Hegseth on Wednesday said her son was a “changed” man and that the email was written in “haste” during a “very emotional time.” She said that she “retracted it with an apology email” just hours after she sent it, and that she and her son are “very close today.”
Penelope Hegseth, imploring senators to listen to his account, also said she believed her son was “the man for the job.”
Hegseth told Kelly he was still confident he’ll be confirmed but said if he isn’t, he’ll know “I did everything I could in this process.”
“So, we don’t know precisely how this is all going to play out. I’m going to go up on Capitol Hill, meet with all these senators, keep working hard, try to earn votes, respect the process,” he said.
ABC News’ Rick Klein, Rachel Scott, Ivan Pereira and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
