President Donald Trump has issued his first public response to the nationwide flight shutdown, after CNN anchor Dana Bash pressed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over why the president appeared to be “missing” as the disruption unfolded.
In a statement released Sunday, roughly a day and a half after Friday’s aviation chaos, Trump criticized the nation’s air traffic control system and blamed the Biden administration for leaving the infrastructure outdated.
“If Congress approves the desperately needed money for Air Traffic Control, we can get it built quickly and efficiently,” Trump wrote Sunday morning.
“It will be the BEST SYSTEM anywhere in the world. Much of our current air control system is 50 years old — RIDICULOUS!”
“We have already started the work, but it should be done all at once, not in drips and drabs. Congress must approve. The Biden Administration set it back years!”
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights across the United States at about 4 p.m. Friday after a communications failure affected air traffic control centers.
It was the first nationwide flight grounding in the United States since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.
Duffy blamed Congress for failing to provide enough funding for a replacement system capable of preventing similar disruptions. He said the modernization effort would require about $50 billion.
“What we have is an incredibly old air traffic control system,” he said Friday. “Give us the money to fix it.”
After Friday’s aviation chaos, President Donald Trump issued a public statement Sunday criticizing the US air traffic control system and blaming former President Joe Biden and outdated infrastructure for the disruption
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights across the United States at about 4 p.m. Friday after a communications failure at air traffic control centers. The country had not experienced a nationwide grounding since the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City
Trump’s comments came about a day and a half after the disruption left flights across the country grounded and caused thousands of subsequent delays.
Before Trump addressed the incident publicly, Bash challenged Duffy during a CNN interview, asking why the president had been “missing” while confusion and fear spread among travelers.
“No information for a bit about what was happening. People were scared, they didn’t know if it was a cyber attack or rogue AI or what,” Bash said.
“The president just made his first real public comment about this on social media this morning. Didn’t Americans deserve to hear from him while this was going on?”
Duffy said he and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin were aboard a flight when the disruption began. After landing, he said, they went directly to the White House.
“I was in the Oval Office with Markwayne, we were talking to the president. The president told Stephen Miller, this is a whole of government approach. So, we were on a call with DNI, NSA, CISA, FBI,” Duffy said before Bash interrupted.
“Why didn’t we hear from the president publicly … he was posting on social media,” Bash began, appearing increasingly frustrated.
“But that’s what’s so stunning about it! Because he was posting on social media about the [Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act], many posts about revitalizing a golf course, and that’s why it’s so noteworthy that we didn’t hear from him for almost a day and a half.”
CNN’s Dana Bash challenged Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over why Trump had not spoken publicly as the nationwide flight disruption unfolded
Duffy said he was in “constant contact” with Trump, whom he described as “fully engaged.” He added that the president had offered whatever resources were needed from other departments
Duffy defended Trump, insisting that he had remained in “constant contact” with the president, whom he described as “fully engaged” throughout the crisis.
“Because this is important to him and it’s important to America. So Markwayne and I were fully engaged with the president, we were in the Oval [Office]. I talked to him before we did the press conference. I talked to him after the press conference,” Duffy said.
“So, his engagement has been remarkable and his insight into how we have to come together as Americans — [Republicans] and [Democrats] — to get this done, is I think a sign of great leadership. So no, the president is fully supportive, fully engaged and was fully tracking what’s happening.”
Duffy said Trump had told him that, as the administration moved forward, he could draw on resources from any other department as needed.
“You can pull them. I want everybody to work on this. The safety of the traveling public is number one for him like it is for me,” Duffy said.
Duffy was also taking part in what media strategists call a “Full Ginsburg,” appearing on all five major Sunday public affairs programs in a single morning.
The strategy is typically used to maximize exposure and ensure that the same message reaches viewers across different media platforms.
Duffy said Sunday that Congress had provided $12.5 billion, which he plans to use for new radios, radar systems, electronic flight strips and upgraded telecommunications lines
At about 8:15 p.m. Eastern time Friday, Duffy announced that US airspace had reopened, although he warned travelers to expect severe delays.
Earlier that day, he said the problems began shortly before 4 p.m., when radar and communications systems became unstable.
“Our switches, our routers actually got overloaded with data and they started to give us inconsistencies in the data from those routers and because of that we shut the system down,” he said.
By 11:30 p.m., about 10,000 flights had been canceled, while experts warned that the effects of the outage could continue for several days.
According to Duffy, tens of thousands of passengers were stranded at airports nationwide.
On Sunday, Duffy said Congress had provided $12.5 billion for the modernization effort. He plans to spend the money on new radios, radar systems, electronic flight strips and updated telecommunications lines.
“Every cent is accounted for, and every piece of equipment will be in place by the end of 2028,” he wrote on X.
“HERE’S THE CATCH: Congress locked that money into physical hardware, leaving us without the funds to build the core software that makes the system run. Congress will be a vital partner in funding the rest of this build so we can modernize our airspace and make sure Friday never happens again.”
The Daily Mail contacted the White House for comment.