An American Airlines regional jet went down in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after colliding with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, with no survivors expected amid the extremely cold and windy conditions.

But within minutes, the “presidential” mirage dissolved. Trump unleashed an unusually appallingly rant, blaming the crash on Barack Obama, Joe Biden, former Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, DEI and people with disabilities.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized Trump on Thursday for his reaction to the devastating incident after Trump baselessly blamed the Biden administration’s policies for threatening air safety. Buttigieg called out the president for “lying” about the crash in a post on social media platform X.

There is no evidence that diversity efforts played a role in the crash, and his statements disregarded his own administration’s hiring policies.

CNN aviation analyst Miles O’Brien joins CNN’s Erin Burnett after President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested there was a link between the deadly collision of a passenger jet and military helicopter near Reagan National Airport and diversity hiring policies at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Disability and civil rights advocates criticized Trump for implying the plane crash could be connected to government diversity programs.

President Trump spoke today on the deadly crash near Washington, D.C. between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter. MSNBC aviation analyst Jeff Guzzetti joins Chris Jansing to react to Trump’s comments and to share his expertise on the matter.

President Donald Trump appoints an acting FAA commissioner in the wake of the deadly plane collision near Washington, D.C. and fields questions from the press on the role of DEI.