President Donald Trump’s statement about the Washington plane crash has left citizens with raised eyebrows yet again. The Republican had previously addressed the tragic mid-air collision in a social media post that led to the birth of several conspiracy theories and has now joked about swimming to the plane crash site during a recent interview.
To the uninformed, on the evening of January 29, 2025, the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport became the site of a tragic accident. A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet and a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter crashed into each other affecting 66 lives onboard. Initially, 18 bodies had been recovered from the Potomac River.
Without conducting any investigation or presenting evidence, Donald Trump signs an executive order attributing the plane crash to President Biden and DEI. @atruparpic.twitter.com/HzzgVi0RV8
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) January 30, 2025
Donald Trump spoke to a reporter about the crash after he stated that he would be “monitoring” the situation in an official statement. In a recent interview, the Republican was asked if he planned on visiting the crash site. Trump’s choice to quip at the unfortunate time is making people question him
“I have a plan to visit, not the site. Because what, you tell me. What’s the site? Water,” Trump was heard saying. He quickly added, “We’re going to go swimming?”
The reporter then asked him if he planned on meeting with the first responders working at the site and Trump revealed that he did not. However, the President shared that he would be meeting with some of the families of the victims of the crash.
Hearing the reporter reading out loud Donald Trump’s post on TS about the plane and helicopter crash is even more jarring.
Bro isn’t fit for office. pic.twitter.com/t1suhduPLd
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) January 30, 2025
This comes after the Republican’s previous statement that caused widespread hysteria on social media. To the unaware, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to write that the plane crash “should have been prevented” in the first place.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” the post read. “It is a CLEAR NIGHT,” the 78-year-old added. He also questioned why the control tower was unable to tell the helicopter “what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane.”
In the post, Trump also labeled the tragedy as a “bad situation.” He also added that the accident “should have been prevented.” The singular sentence from the President led to people speculating. Billionaire Bill Ackman even speculated that the incident “sounds more like terrorism than an accident” in an X post.
A video that was acquired from live-stream company Earthcam confirmed that the tragedy was an accident. An FBI official also spoke to NBC News and shared that there is “no indication of criminality or terrorism in the crash.”
Immediately after the crash, a search-and-rescue was started at the Potomac River. Around 30 first responders showed up at the site and worked through the night to rescue the victims. A report from CNN stated that 14 victims of the accident are still missing and 40 bodies from the crash have reportedly been recovered so far.
A crane is reported being brought in to search for the victims in the river. The rescue mission was primarily carried out by divers. A section of the river is blocked off by the wreckage and left inaccessible to the divers. The crane is being brought in to “cut and lift pieces” according to a law enforcement source who spoke to CNN.