Trump administration faces first big test with Washington air crash

by Danny KEMP

The deadliest US plane crash for a decade poses the first major test for Donald Trump's fledgling administration -- and for the president's plans to radically reshape the government, including the civil aviation agency.

The collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter came only six hours after Trump's new transportation secretary was sworn in, and just days after the arrival of the new Pentagon chief.

Trump quickly weighed in with a critical take, saying the crash "should have been prevented," and questioning both why the helicopter did not "go up or down, or turn" and why the control tower did not "tell the helicopter what to do."

His administration is at pains to show it has a grip on the situation following the crash, which unfolded just miles from the White House, likely leaving more than 60 dead and no survivors.

Trump was to speak from the podium in the White House briefing room on Thursday.

He spent the night of the crash being briefed by officials in the Situation Room, and his national security advisor was seen arriving back at the White House early Thursday.

"I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident," Trump said on his Truth Social account. "May God bless their souls."

- Diversity 'madness' -

Yet the crash also shines a spotlight on how Trump's right-wing administration is putting a strain on the civilian and military agencies he will need to properly investigate the crash, and deal with future crises.

The Federal Aviation Authority, which controls America's skies, has no full-time boss because its leader stepped down on inauguration day after Elon Musk demanded that he quit.

The billionaire Space X owner, who is heading Trump's cost-cutting Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Trump's administration, had criticized Mike Whitaker for the agency's oversight of rocket launches.

Separately, the FAA was also one of the first targets for the slew of orders that Trump unleashed after his inauguration on January 20 targeting "woke politics."

The order targeted "DEI madness" in hiring employees for the FAA, referring to "diversity, equity and inclusion" programs.

The crash meanwhile marks the grimmest possible start to work for Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who promised a "golden age of transportation" when he was sworn in at the White House on Wednesday by Vice President JD Vance.

A day later he was giving a press conference on the crash at Reagan Airport, insisting that the United States had the "most safe and secure airspace in the world."

- 'Tragedy' -

The spotlight will also be on new US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a former Fox TV contributor and military veteran, who is also in his first week in the job.

Signs were mounting that the military Black Hawk helicopter involved may have been to blame for the mid-air crash with a passenger jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary.

Hegseth has pledged a war on "woke" in the US armed forces to restore their "lethality", and Trump has signed an order to rid the military of what he calls "transgender ideology."

But his predecessor Lloyd Austin appeared to criticize Trump's plans before his departure, saying that a military that "turns away qualified patriots" would become "smaller and weaker."

Hegseth will also be under pressure to deliver after squeaking through his confirmation process due to allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and concerns over inexperience.

He said in a video message on Thursday that the Pentagon was "actively working to investigate" why the helicopter on a training flight had collided with the passenger jet.

"It's a tragedy, a horrible loss of life," Hegseth said. "As we get updates, you will have them."

© Agence France-Presse