'To set highest bar for aviation safety': Ten things Trump said after Washington DC plane crash

US President Donald Trump has assured that his administration will set the "highest possible bar for aviation safety" in the country after

Washington DC plane crash

that killed 67 on Wednesday.
Further, he criticized diversity efforts at the federal aviation administration, claiming they lowered standards for air traffic controllers. He accused the Barack Obama administration of deciding the FAA workforce was "too white" and also blamed the Joe Biden administration and transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Officials have recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, commonly known as black boxes, from the American Airlines plane, CBS News reported.
The collision occurred at around 9pm (local time) within restricted airspace, about three miles from the White House and the US Capitol. By Thursday morning, authorities had transitioned from a search-and-rescue operation to a recovery effort.

Here are ten things Trump said on plane crash:

On chopper crash probe

Trump said that there were some "very strong opinions and ideas" that might have led to the crash. He said that FAA and the NTSB and the US military would be investigating the matter.
We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think we'll probably state those opinions now because over the years I've watched as things like this happen and they say, 'Well, we're always investigating,'" he said.
"And then the investigation, three years later, they announce it. 'We think we have some pretty good ideas.' But we'll find out how this disaster occurred and will ensure that nothing like this ever happens again," he added.

'Diversity': Trump on cause of the crash

Trump blamed diversity requirements at the FAA and his Democratic predecessors for the crash, claiming lax standards for air traffic controllers played a role. However, he provided no evidence linking diversity programs to the crash.
"For some jobs, we need the highest level of genius," he said.
"The FAA's diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing. And then it says, FAA says, people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce and they want them in and they want them . They can be air traffic controllers. I don't think so. This was in January 14th, so that was a week before I entered office. They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA's program," he said.
When asked how he had drawn this conclusion, Trump replied: "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."

Trump questions secretary Pete Buttigieg's aviation policies

The US president claimed that ever since Federal Aviation Administration was being overseen by secretary Pete Buttigieg, the aviation safety had become a "disaster."
"That's the guy's a real winner. Do you know how badly everything's run since he's run this Department of Transportation? He's a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground and he's a disaster now," he said.
"He's just got a good line of bullshit. The Department of Transportation, his government agency charged with regulating civil aviation while he runs it, 45,000 people and he is run it right into the ground with his diversity. So I had to say that it's terrible," he added.

'Very mediocre': Trump on Obama-era aviation standards

Trump claimed that he Obama-era aviation standards were "very mediocre" and he changed them to "extraordinary" when he took over in 2016.
"We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system. I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary. You remember that. Only the highest aptitude, they have to be the highest intellect and psychologically superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers. That was not so prior to getting there," he said.
"When I arrived in 2016, I made that change very early on because I always felt this was a job that -- and other jobs too- but this was a job that had to be superior intelligence and we didn't really have that and we had it," he added.

'Biden changed them back to lower than ever'

He then claimed that Joe Biden's presidency since 2020 changed changed the aviation standards "back to lower than ever before."
"I put safety first, Obama Biden and the Democrats put policy first and they put politics at a level that nobody's ever seen because this was the lowest level. Their policy was horrible and their politics was even worse. So as you know, last week long before the crash, I signed an executive order restoring our highest standards for air traffic controllers and other important jobs throughout the country," he said.

'Signed executive order to set highest aviation standard possible'

Trump said that he had signed executive orders to ensure "highest possible bar for aviation safety".
"About a week ago, almost upon entering office, I signed something last week, that was an executive order, very powerful on restoring the highest standards of air traffic controllers and others, by the way. Then my administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety," he said.
"We have to have our smartest people. It doesn't matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. It matters - intellect, talent. The word talent. You have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses. You can't have regular people doing that job. They won't be able to do it," he added.

'A confluence of bad decisions'

Talking about the crash, Trump said we had "a confluence of bad decisions that were made and you have people that lost their lives, violently lost their lives."
"So you had a helicopter going in identical direction. You had a helicopter that was at the exact same height as somebody going in essentially the opposite direction. You had a plane that was following a track, which is a track that every other plane followed and I don't imagine, I know I've heard today that they might've been following the preceding plane, which was pretty close, but not that close, the preceding plane. But you wouldn't have even been able to see that because of the direction that the helicopter was coming in at," he said.

Calling for fast confirmations

Trump expressed that having Sean Duffy sworn in as the new transportation secretary was timely.
Answering a question on Duffy being confirmed as transportation secretary, he said: "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."

Condoling the death of chopper crash victims

"This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history and a tragedy of terrible proportions. As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly, and we are a country of really, we are in mourning. This is really shaking a lot of people, including people very sadly, from other nations who were on the flight," he said.
"On behalf of the First Lady, myself and 340 million Americans, our friends are shattered alongside yours and our prayers are with you now and in the days to come. We'll be working very, very diligently in the days to come. We're here for you to wipe away the tears and to offer you our devotion, our love and our support. It's great support. In moments like this, the differences between Americans fade to nothing compared to the bonds of affection and loyalty that unite us all, both as Americans and even as nations. We are one family, and today we are all heartbroken. We're all searching for answers," he added.

Reassuring people it is safe to fly

Trump assured people that it was safe to fly and they shouldn't feel hesitant to do so.
"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," he said
"Flying is very safe. We have the safest flying anywhere in the world, and we'll keep it that way," he added.