Just before 9 p.m. last night, an American Airlines regional jet carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying 3 military service members over the Potomac River in Washington DC while on final approach to Reagan National Airport. Both aircraft crashed instantly and were immediately submerged into the icy waters of the Potomac. Real tragedy. The massive search and rescue mission was underway throughout the night, leveraging every asset at our disposal. And I have to say the local, state, federal, military, including the United States Coast Guard in particular, they’ve done a phenomenal job. So quick, so fast, it was, it was mobilized immediately. The work is now shifted to a Recovery mission. Sadly, there are no survivors.
— President Donald Trump, January 30, 2025
After the deadliest airline disaster in United States airspace since 2009, Trump’s brief description of the tragedy accurately provides clarity, as presidents are called upon to do. But what follows is illustrative of what’s glaringly different about this president and this presidency.
After the Challenger disaster, Ronald Reagan spoke words that served to unify a nation in our common grief. He spoke from the heart. He spoke to the country as a whole. In four and a half minutes, he offered reassurance, meaningful perspective, a celebration of personal courage and reaffirmation of national purpose.
Donald Trump is the furthest thing from Ronald Reagan (and from other recent presidents). Trump’s staff puts the right words on the page, but whenever the language is uplifting, or encompassing of the nation as a whole, or even simply expressing empathy for others, Trump cannot rise to the occasion. He reads the words in a monotone like a schoolboy grudgingly reciting a poem he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t feel it. His indifference is unmistakable.
Donald Trump craves being the center of attention.
On the other hand, Trump sounded convincing as he denied being at fault and — without shame or a shred of evidence — directed blame to others for the tragic crash. After “a box-checking moment of silence for victims” (as Phillip Bump put it) and praise for his team, which will be “working tirelessly to figure out what happened,” he added, “We will state certain opinions, however.” And then he began to cast about for someone to blame. This he cares about.
That doesn’t mean he got his facts straight. He didn’t. The policy directive he quoted — and attributed to Obama, who left office 8 years ago — was his own from 2019. Trump’s falsehoods continued: “I put safety first. Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put policy first. And they put politics at a level that nobody has ever seen, because this was the lowest level. Their policy was horrible and their politics was even worse.”
This is blather. Blather that offered up division, anger, and grievance. And that more accurately describes what we’re seeing now.
The Democratic policy he blamed is a Republican favorite: DEI — Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — which prompted this exchange:
Reporter: Mr. President, you have today blamed a diversity element, but then told us that you weren’t sure that the controllers made any mistake. You then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were the ones who made the mistake.
Trump: It’s all under investigation.
Reporter: I understand that. That’s why I’m trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash.
Trump: Because I have common sense. And, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.
This is straight out of the MAGA campaign playbook. The president is looking for a scapegoat: a member of a racial or ethnic or religious minority, or a woman — or anyone who defies MAGA’s gender dogma. He has no evidence for this, but he is intent on making the case. Never mind the facts or the truth. Never mind that the “systematic and comprehensive investigation” he promised earlier has just begun.
The president references intellect, talent, and even “naturally talented geniuses.” And as he did throughout his first term, he insists that his focus is on hiring the best people. But it’s clear from his appointments that loyalty, not even minimal competence, is the chief qualification for Trump’s second-term crew. Everyone who followed him to the mic – Vice President JD Vance, Sean Duffy his Secretary of Transportation, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – is on script. They begin by lathering praise on Trump and bashing diversity requirements.
What we saw, as during his COVID press conferences, is Trump making himself the center of the story, as he makes every story about himself. In the spotlight, he shuns responsibility, blames others, and finds a way to take credit.
To make the story complete, he appears before cameras again later that day — signing “a presidential memorandum titled, An Immediate Assessment of Aviation Safety. In light of the damage done to aviation safety by the Biden administration’s DEI and woke policies.”
This, in the view of Trump and his acolytes, is presidential leadership. Welcome to MAGA America.