FLIGHT MELEES

Donald Trump’s ham-fisted response to the deadliest plane crash in years underscores the danger of rapid, radical government transformation — and shows how much we need competent leaders to handle basic safety standards and national crises.

• Last night, an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger plane in a ball of fire, killing all 67 people on both aircraft and sending debris into the icy waters of the Potomac River. It’s the deadliest crash on American soil in 15 years… and President Donald Trump responded with his standard schtick: blaming political opponents, making racist and ableist statements, and deploying his TV-ready cabinet onto the airwaves to host an impromptu talkshow.

• Trump cast blame on everyone but himself for the crash, falsely accusing Democrats of lowering flight safety standards. He said the crash “might” have been caused by Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies — suggesting the crash may have happened because the Obama administration once allegedly decided the Federal Aviation Administration was “too white.” Of course, he cited no real evidence for any of this. “I put safety first,” Trump claimed.  “The Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody has ever seen, because this was the lowest level.” He later signed a memo officially blaming the Biden administration for the crash. Awesome.

• Trump’s political broadside received immediate pushback from experts who’ve worked on aviation issues for years. “It should not be a political issue,” Kari Bingen, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the CSIS think tank, told What A Day. “This is tragic and just a tremendous loss of human life. We can’t lose sight of that.”

• Trump attacked former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, calling him a “disaster” during the press conference. Buttigieg fired back: “Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” he wrote in a statement. For his part, Trump’s newly-confirmed Transportation Secretary (and former The Real World: Boston cast member) Sean Duffy offered this indispensable analysis: “Obviously, it is not standard to have aircraft collide. I want to be clear on that.” Thank you, Sean. Incredible stuff.

So, what went wrong? Where does Trump go from here?

• The Trump administration has launched several investigations into the crash. “Something like this does not just happen,” said Bingen, former top Trump defense official during his first administration. A number of unexpected factors could have caused the crash. “You just don’t know,” she said. Details are starting to leak: There was only one controller handling helicopters and airplane landings last night, according to a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report. That’s usually the job of two people — but most airport towers across the country are understaffed. The airplane pilot was also asked to switch runways shortly before the crash.

• It doesn’t help with flight safety when you push out the dude in charge of the FAA — which is exactly what centibillionaire Elon Musk did. (Last year, then-FAA leader Michael Whitaker had proposed $600,000 fines for SpaceX, Musk’s rocket launch company, angering the tech mogul.) His recent departure left the agency with no leader until today, when Trump chose aviation industry veteran Chris Rocheleau to fill the job. Last week, Trump also fired all the members of a key aviation safety advisory committee.

• People inside the FAA blame Trump, not the Democrats, for tightening the agency’s budget in the past: “He slashed our budget and a lot of people, including myself, were laid off. So, we’re just waiting to see what programs will continue,” a longtime FAA contractor, rehired under the Biden administration, told What A Day.

Every day, it feels like there are new horrific headlines in politics. The FAA contractor, however, found a silver lining: “We’re grateful the new administrator is not a Fox News host!”

Got any tips or emails from the Trump administration? Reach me on Signal at 413-726-4767 or email at whataday@crooked.com. I’ll keep you totally anonymous — I’d love to chat!

FLIGHT MELEES

A trio of Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks were questioned by lawmakers today about their questionable qualifications to lead some of America’s most important bureaus. Here’s your quick rundown:

Tulsi Gabbard: The dictator-sympathizer, who might be put in charge of running America’s spy agencies, was interrogated for her past support for leaker Edward Snowden, saying that the Ukraine war wasn’t entirely Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fault, and her mysterious trip to Syria to visit then-leader Bashar al-Assad in 2017. What’s more, “she has really no experience in intelligence,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) told What A Day. Comforting.

Gabbard’s confirmation is expected to be among the most contentious, though she picked up a key endorsement from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR). Asked whether Gabbard could be confirmed after the hearing, a GOP Senate aide texted What A Day a blunt response: “Honestly no idea.”

Kash Patel: The MAGA children’s book author spent much of his hearing (to be FBI director)  dodging questions like, “Who won the 2020 presidential election?” and “Why did you repeatedly appear on podcasts with conspiracy theorists?” Mind-bogglingly, Patel claimed he went on the podcasts to debunk the hosts’ conspiracy theories. He also denied that he has an “enemies list” — which was literally published in his “Government Gangsters” book — and called that term a “total mischaracterization.”

Many Republican lawmakers applauded Patel’s career in public service, which doesn’t involve high-ranking positions that have historically qualified people to lead the FBI. Democratic senators are fully against him, but it seems very possible that he’ll win over all Republicans and be confirmed.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: The second day of the brainworm survivor’s confirmation hearings to become head of the Department of Health and Human Services was similar to the first: A few hours of good ol’ fashioned grilling him on false scientific statements he’s made, while Kennedy played coy. “Show me a single statement I’ve made about science that’s erroneous,” Kennedy told senators. Well, if you insist.

Kennedy’s confirmation might actually be on the rocks. “My concern is that if there’s any false note, any undermining of a mama’s trust in vaccines another person will die from a vaccine-preventable disease,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). “My responsibility is to learn, try and determine if you can be trusted to support the best public health.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

Donald Trump’s team is considering dozens of ways to try to wrestle power from Congress to make it easier for him to control federal spending and fire federal employees, Bloomberg reports. Those actions could set up a constitutional battle over how much power a president should have. Can we, uh, please keep what few checks and balances we have left??

Trump signed executive orders aimed at education, trying to stop schools from recognizing transgender identities or teaching about white privilege, insisting on a “patriotic” curriculum, and directing agencies to look for ways to expand access to private school vouchers, which come at the direct expense of funding for public schools. His orders will test the limits of the federal government’s involvement in K-12 schools.

The FBI has received a spike in sexual misconduct complaints among employees in recent years, despite the bureau’s initiative to crackdown on such cases. There have been almost 300 complaints since 2021, an almost 50 percent jump compared to the previous four years, the Associated Press reports.

Syrian de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa declared himself the president, abolished the country’s constitution, and dissolved the parliament. It’s part of Syria’s “transitional” period following the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, Syrian officials said.

Israel began releasing more than 100 Palestinian prisoners today as part of its cease-fire deal with Hamas, after a chaotic hostage turnover that nearly threatened to derail the deal. It’s always important to note that many “prisoners” held by Israel are children and people who haven’t been convicted of a crime, according to Human Rights Watch. One in five Palestinians have passed through Israeli jails at some point, according to the United Nations.

Israel’s ban on the main U.N. organization that provides humanitarian assistance to Palestinians went into effect today. Israel has been trying to shut down the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for years, recently accusing 19 of its 13,000 workers of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack. A U.N. investigation found that nine of the accused “may have been involved” and terminated their contracts immediately. Palestinians are concerned about the impact of the ban: “We rely on God, then on [UNRWA],” a displaced Gazan told CNN.

NASA scientists spotted a “city-killer” asteroid that has a 1-83 chance of hitting Earth in 2032. This is NOT what we needed this week! Or, maybe it is? Maybe by 2032 we will welcome the asteroid.

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