FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump began his White House briefing Thursday with a moment of silence and a prayer for victims of Wednesday’s crash at Reagan National Airport. But his remarks quickly became a diatribe against diversity hiring and his allegation — so far without evidence — that lowered standards were to blame for the crash.

Trump on Thursday variously pointed the finger at the helicopter’s pilot, air traffic control, his predecessor, Joe Biden, and other Democrats including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whom he labeled a “disaster.” Buttigieg responded by calling Trump “despicable.”

The cause of the crash is still unknown. Authorities are investigating and have not publicly identified the cause or said who might have been responsible for the collision of an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army helicopter.

Reporters on Thursday challenged Trump’s claims. Here’s a look at how Trump responded to some of their questions.

Placing blame on diversity hiring

Trump was asked repeatedly to explain why he was blaming federal diversity and inclusion promotion efforts for the crash, at one point alleging that previous leadership had determined that the Federal Aviation Administration workforce was “too white.” He did not back up those claims, while also declaring it was still not clear the FAA or air traffic controllers were responsible for the crash.

Q: “Are you saying this crash was somehow caused as the result of diversity hiring? And what evidence have you seen to support these claims?”

TRUMP: “It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a much higher standard than anybody else. And there are things where you have to go by brainpower. You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful tests that we put to use. And they were terminated by Biden. And Biden went by a standard that seeks the exact opposite. So we don’t know. But we do know that you had two planes at the same level. You had a helicopter and a plane. That shouldn’t have happened. And, we’ll see. We’re going to look into that, and we’re going to see. But certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior. And that’s what we’re going to have.”

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Q: “You have today blamed the diversity elements 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.”

Q: “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. OK? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level. When you have 60 planes coming in during a short period of time, and they’re all coming in different directions, and you’re dealing with very high-level computer, computer work and very complex computers.”

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Trump was challenged on his claim that the FAA under Democratic presidents had promoted the hiring of people with disabilities. The page Trump referenced has existed on the FAA’s website for a decade, including his first term.

Q: “The implication that this policy is new or that it stems from efforts that began under President Biden or the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, is demonstrably false. It’s been on the FAA’s website —”

TRUMP: “Who said that, you?”

Q: “No, it’s on the website, the FAA’s website. It was there from 2013 … it was there for the entirety, it was there for the entirety of your administration, too. So my question is, why didn’t you change the policy during your first administration?”

TRUMP: “I did change it. 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 signed a new order, bringing it to the highest level of intelligence.”

Calling for fast confirmations

Trump agreed it was helpful to have Sean Duffy, his new transportation secretary, sworn and ready to respond when the major crisis hit.

Q: “Is it helpful to have your secretary of transportation confirmed and does this intensify your interest in getting other nominees confirmed quickly as well?”

TRUMP: “For sure, we want fast confirmations. And the Democrats, as you know, are doing everything they can to delay. They’ve taken too long. We’re struggling to get very good people that everybody knows are going to be confirmed. But we’re struggling to get them out faster. We want them out faster.”

Reassuring people it is safe to fly

Trump was asked if Americans should feel safe to fly after the crash.

According to the FAA, Trump is expected to fly to Palm Beach, Florida, where his Mar-a-Lago club is located, for the weekend on Friday.

Trump took another opportunity to criticize diversity hiring efforts for the crash as he wrapped up the news briefing.

Q: “Should people be hesitant to fly right now?”

TRUMP: “No. Not at all. I would not hesitate to fly. This is something that it’s been many years that something like this has happened, and the collision is just something that, we don’t expect ever to happen again. We are going to have the highest-level people. We’ve already hired some of the people that you already hired for that position long before we knew about this. I mean, long before, from the time I came in, we started going out and getting the best people because I said ‘It’s not appropriate what they’re doing.’ I think it’s a tremendous mistake. You know? They like to do things, and they like to take them too far. And this is sometimes what ends up happening.

“Now with that, I’m not blaming the controller. I’m saying there are things that you could question, like the height of the helicopter, the height of the plane being at the same level and going the opposite direction. That’s not a positive. But, no, we’re already hiring people.

“Flying is very safe. We have the safest flying anywhere in the world, and we’ll keep it that way.”

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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.

Adriana Gomez Licon, The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation drastically expanding the number of families who can use taxpayer money on private schools regardless of income, a long-sought victory for Republican Gov. Bill Lee with some help from President Donald Trump to win over GOP holdouts.

The bill heads to Lee for his almost-certain signature. Tennessee would join a dozen other states that have eliminated traditional strict income requirements for families seeking to access public dollars to fund alternatives to public education for their children.

Under Tennessee’s proposal, 20,000 education vouchers of around $7,000 each would become available next year. Half of those would go to students who are lower income, disabled or otherwise able to participate in the new voucher program, but any student entitled to attend a public school could access the remaining 10,000.

Thursday’s House and Senate approval occurred within a session specially called by Lee, allowing him to narrowly focus lawmakers’ attention instead of waiting for action during the ongoing, monthslong regular session covering all kinds of topics. The special session began Monday.

Trump weighed in on social media Tuesday. He praised Tennessee lawmakers for “working hard to pass School Choice this week, which I totally support.” Additionally, the Trump administration told the U.S. Education Department to use discretionary money to prioritize school choice programs and give states new guidance on how they can use federal money to support K-12 voucher programs.

The head of the conservative Club for Growth, which is running TV ads lauding the voucher plan, also warned Republican lawmakers that they would fund primary election challengers to try to defeat anyone who opposes the bill.

Supporters have repeatedly argued expanding school choice is critical to supporting parental rights and giving families the best options for their children. At the Republican National Convention, Lee even called school choice the “civil rights issue of our time.”

Yet Democrats, who hold only a sliver of power in Tennessee but led the charge on publicly questioning the governor’s voucher plan, repeatedly pointed out this week the unexpected costs that have popped up in other states and stressed that the legislation would largely benefit wealthy families who don’t need the financial assistance. Legislative analysts assume about two-thirds of the vouchers will go to students already attending private schools.

“Make no mistake, this is welfare for the wealthy,” said Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons during Thursday’s floor debate.

Republicans have defended the lax income limits, arguing parents need more choices, regardless of wealth.

“As the sponsor of this legislation, I’ve never once said that this was a program designed for disadvantaged families,” GOP Sen. Jack Johnson said.

The push to expand school vouchers comes as Republicans across the country have increased their criticisms of public schools in recent years. They have said some public schools were too slow to reopen in the COVID-19 pandemic, sought to limit what public schools can teach about race and sexuality, and adopted laws and rules banning transgender athletes in school sports.

Yet when presented directly to voters, school choice expansion efforts have faltered. Last election, Kentucky voters rejected a measure to enable public funding for private school attendance, and Nebraska voters partially repealed a law that uses taxpayer money to subsidize private education. A proposed constitutional amendment in Colorado that would have established schoolchildren’s “right to school choice” also was defeated.

In Tennessee, multiple local school boards passed resolutions stating their opposition to Lee’s voucher plan. Teachers and students flocked to the Capitol this week, holding signs and yelling out as lawmakers walked into floor sessions pleading with them not to gut public education dollars. On Thursday, some protesters handed out fake money labeled “voucher scam bribe.”

Another sticking point was the large amount of testimony from families of students who have learning disabilities pointing out that private schools can and do reject students with certain impairments. A last-minute amendment that would have prohibited private schools from discriminating against students with disabilities was rejected from the House.

Since taking office in 2019, Lee has narrowly won efforts to create a school voucher program for low-income families in three counties. But last year, Lee failed to win enough support to launch a statewide school voucher program no longer based on income.

For the upcoming budget year, more than $400 million would be set aside for the voucher plan that folds in other education initiatives. One of those add-ons is $172 million for one-time bonuses of $2,000 for teachers.

In order to receive it, however, a local school board would have to pass a resolution opting in to the bonus section of the voucher bill. The requirement was added after a number of school boards passed resolutions broadly opposing vouchers.

Legislative budget analysts project the legislation will cost $190.8 million annually in future years.

While Republicans touted their focus on adding billions of dollars to K-12 education in recent years, Democrats noted that Tennessee ranks near the bottom of all states in per-pupil funding for K-12 education.

Jonathan Mattise And Kimberlee Kruesi, The Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — When North Dakota’s petroleum association was going to hold a banquet honoring top fracking executives last year, it turned to Gov. Doug Burgum. The two-term Republican, now President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department, co-hosted the event — at the governor’s mansion.

And when energy industry lobbyists were looking for help taking on Biden administration greenhouse gas rules, they also turned to Burgum. In an email to Burgum’s office seeking the legal heft the state could provide, an industry lobbyist argued that “combating” such regulations required “a one-two punch” from industry and government.

While it is not surprising that the governor of the third-largest oil producing state would have a close relationship with fossil fuel producers, records obtained by the Associated Press reveal Burgum’s administration eagerly assisted the industry even as the governor was profiting from the lease of family land to oil companies. And his assistance came at a time when Burgum was leaning on those very connections to build his national profile in the Republican Party.

If confirmed to run the Interior Department — as soon as Thursday — Burgum will have vast control over federal lands, including the issuance of oil and gas leases, as well as a mandate from Trump to extract such resources even though the U.S. is producing record amounts of fossil fuels.

The selection of Burgum, who briefly pursued the presidency in 2023 before endorsing Trump, represents an abrupt pivot from Biden’s emphasis on combating climate change. It also signals that Trump intends to follow through on a proposal made last spring when he urged oil and gas CEOs to donate $1 billion to his campaign in exchange for the dismantling of Biden’s environmental agenda.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment, and a spokesman for Burgum declined to make him available for an interview.

“Governor Burgum worked tirelessly to build a prosperous economy,” spokesman Rob Lockwood said in a statement. “As governor, he met with job creators and leaders who generated opportunities for the people of North Dakota.”

Under the partisan glare of Washington and faced with stricter federal ethics rules governing conflicts of interest, Burgum has pledged to sell his interest in his family’s lease with the shale oil giant Continental Resources, as well as another one with Hess, a Chevron subsidiary. He has also pledged to sell stock held in a handful of energy companies, some of which he interacted with as governor, which are worth as much as $200,000 according to his 2023 financial disclosures.

Close ties to an industry titan

There is perhaps no better demonstration of Burgum’s close ties to oil and gas producers than his friendship with Harold Hamm, the Continental founder. The billionaire Oklahoma wildcatter advises Trump on energy policy and is widely viewed as playing a role in helping Burgum secure the nomination to lead Interior. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Burgum has likened Hamm to Teddy Roosevelt for his “grit, resilience, hard work and determination” that he said “changed North Dakota and our nation.” The shout-out came after Hamm had donated $50 million toward a library honoring Roosevelt in western North Dakota — a passion project of Burgum’s.

Hamm also gifted Burgum a set of cuff links along with a note thanking Burgum for his “friendship.”

These were not his only displays of patronage. Though Burgum, an independently wealthy former software company CEO, had a dim chance of winning the Republican presidential primary, Hamm’s Continental Resources contributed $250,000 in the summer of 2023 to a super PAC supporting Burgum, records show.

Emails between Burgum and Hamm’s offices reveal the two communicated often.

In a May 2020 email, Hamm’s executive assistant asked if Burgum had time to talk with Hamm and shared a briefing document that railed against wind power and excoriated tax breaks for wind energy providers as “unconscionable.”

Ethics experts say there are other aspects of their relationship that pose a greater conflict of interest. As governor, Burgum never disclosed that his family leased roughly 200 acres of farmland to Continental for well drilling, as previously reported by CNBC. When Burgum ran for president and faced greater transparency requirements, he revealed making $50,000 in royalties from Continental in 2023.

“Tens of thousands of families and mineral owners have similar arrangements,” said Lockwood, the Burgum spokesman, “As the publicly available disclosures show: the cited agreement began many years before he became governor.”

Despite this relationship, Burgum took action that benefited Hamm. As chairman of North Dakota’s Industrial Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, he voted nearly a dozen times or more on measures that had favorable outcomes for Continental, records show.

Sarah Vogel, a Democrat and former North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner who previously sat on the commission, said Burgum seemed more like a cheerleader of the industry than a regulator.

“I don’t think he had a regulator’s mindset. He had a promoter’s mindset, which has probably made him beloved in the oil and gas industry,” Vogel said.

Other executives have ties to Burgum

Hamm is not the only oil executive or lobbyist who has cultivated ties with Burgum. Ryan Berger, a lobbyist for Occidental Petroleum, emailed Burgum’s staff last year seeking a meeting for Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub.

“In an ideal world, a face-to-face over lunch or dinner would be amazing,” Berger wrote in a May 2024 email.

The records revealed that a Who’s Who of oil executives had calls scheduled with Burgum. They include: CEOs of Chevron and Exxon; Marathon Oil officials had an audience with Burgum in 2022; and the governor also spoke before the Hess Corporation’s board of directors’ dinner. Burgum’s family also has an oil lease with Hess that paid him as much as $1,000, according to his financial disclosure.

On Inauguration Day, Burgum declined an invitation to attend a party at the posh Hay-Adams Hotel that was hosted by Hamm and several petroleum trade associations and oil companies.

Many of those executives and lobbyists, who will have business before the Interior Department, already know how to reach him.

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Slodysko reported from Washington.

Brian Slodysko And Jack Dura, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the nation reeled from the deadliest American aviation disaster in more than two decades, President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed diversity initiatives for undermining air safety and questioned the actions of a U.S. Army helicopter pilot involved in the midair collision with a commercial airliner.

Sixty-seven people are believed to have died in the Wednesday evening crash, which occurred while a flight from Wichita, Kansas, was landing at Washington Reagan National Airport. As Trump spoke, the federal investigation was just beginning and first responders were still working to recover bodies from the Potomac River.

Officials have not yet to formally establish the causes of the collision, and Trump himself acknowledged that it was too soon to draw conclusions as he encouraged the country to pray for the victims. But he quickly moved to engage in speculation and political attacks, at a moment when Americans traditionally look to the presidency for comfort, assurance and facts.

“Some really bad things happened and some things happened that shouldn’t have happened,” the Republican president said from the White House briefing room, just over three miles or five kilometers from the scene of the disaster.

Trump blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for encouraging the Federal Aviation Administration to recruit workers “who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative.” He added that the program allowed for the hiring of people with hearing and vision issues as well as paralysis, epilepsy and “dwarfism.”

Trump did not share any evidence that unqualified people were being put in critical positions like air traffic control, and he acknowledged that there was as yet no indication that air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport made any mistakes.

Asked why he was blaming diversity initiatives, Trump said, “because I have common sense, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.”

Trump said air traffic controllers needed to be brilliant to ensure safety.

“They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses,” he said. “You can’t have regular people doing their job.”

Trump complained specifically about Pete Buttigieg, who was Biden’s transportation secretary and was a contender to challenge Trump for the White House in 2020, calling him “a disaster.”

“He’s run it right into the ground with his diversity,” Trump said, adding profanity to his description of Buttigieg.

Buttigieg responded in a post on X, calling Trump’s comments “despicable.”

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” he added.

The plane crash was the first major disaster of Trump’s new term, and his response evoked his frequent — and controversial — briefings on the COVID-19 pandemic. His handling of the pandemic helped sour voters on him as he failed to win reelection in 2020.

After telling the families of the dead that “our hearts are shattered alongside yours” and leading a moment of silence, Trump proceeded to speculate about what had occurred. “We do not know what led to this crash but we have some very strong opinions,” he said.

Trump wondered if the helicopter pilot was wearing nightvision goggles, declared that “you had a pilot problem” and that the helicopter was “going at an angle that was unbelievably bad.” He questioned why the Army pilot didn’t change course, saying that “you can stop a helicopter very quickly.”

He also mused about the air traffic controllers, saying of the two aircraft, “for whatever reason they were at the same elevation,” adding “they should have been at a different height.”

Democrats criticized Trump’s remarks on Thursday.

“It’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracy theories, it’s another for the president of the United States,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Vice President JD Vance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth all lined up behind Trump to praise his leadership and echo his concerns about diversity programs and hiring.

“When you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means on the one hand, you’re not getting the best people in government,” Vance said, “But on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there.”

Trump made a point to tell Duffy, who was sworn in on Tuesday as Buttigieg’s replacement, “It’s not your fault.” Duffy took the White House podium alongside Trump and declared, “When Americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land at their destination.” Duffy added, “We will not accept excuses.”

Trump signed an executive order ending diversity initiatives at the FAA soon after taking office last week. Federal officials have been raising concerns about an overtaxed and understaffed air traffic control system for years, especially after a series of close calls between planes at U.S. airports. They have cited issues with competitive pay, long hours, intensive training and mandatory retirements for contributing to the staffing shortages.

“While these events are incredibly rare, our safety system is showing clear signs of strain that we cannot ignore,” Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told lawmakers in 2023. Aviation experts issued a report around the same time saying that the FAA needs better staffing, equipment and technology.

Zeke Miller And Chris Megerian, The Associated Press