Trump continued to turn what might have been a sombre briefing into a baseless rant against DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) despite no evidence of a link with the plane crash.
The president was backed to the hilt by the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, who said “we can only accept the best and the brightest” in positions affecting passenger safety, and the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, who echoed: “The era of DEI is gone at the defence department and we need the best and brightest.”
Then came the vice-president, JD Vance, who claimed “we want to hire the best people” who are “actually competent enough to do the job”.
Trump returned to the lectern to claim that “very powerful tests” for competence in air traffic control were “terminated” by Joe Biden.
CNN’s Kaitlin Collins asked: “Aren’t you getting ahead of the investigation?” Trump replied: “No, I don’t think so at all ... I don’t think that’s a smart question. I’m surprised, coming from you.”
Another reporter asked why Trump believes DEI is responsible. He said: “Because I have common sense and unfortunately a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level.”
