President Trump characterized the incident as a “bad situation” that “should have been prevented.”

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, he wrote, “The airplane was on a perfect and routine approach to the airport. The helicopter was heading straight toward the airplane for an extended period of time. It was a CLEAR NIGHT, the plane’s lights were fully visible—why didn’t the helicopter ascend, descend, or change direction?”

He continued, “Why didn’t the control tower instruct the helicopter on what to do instead of simply asking if they saw the plane? This is a bad situation that seems like it could have been avoided. NOT GOOD!!! What a tragic night this has been. God bless you all!”

Trump referred to the crash as an “hour of anguish” for the United States before launching into an unfounded critique of diversity hiring initiatives under his predecessors, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. He claimed that the Federal Aviation Administration was “actively recruiting workers with severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric issues, and other mental and physical conditions as part of a diversity and inclusion hiring program.”