Trump Called Washington Crash 'Amazing' in Golf Comparison

In a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Statuary Hall, President Donald Trump made a strikingly unusual comparison between the recent Washington plane crash and a golf driving range, describing the tragedy that claimed 67 lives as "amazing."

Trump added:

"But the odds, even if you had nothing, if you had nobody, the odds of that happening– extremely small. It’s like, did you ever see, you go to a driving range in golf and you’re hitting balls, hundreds of balls, thousands of hours."

He went on to say:

"I never see a ball hit another ball? Balls going up all over the place. You never see ’em hit. It was amazing that that could happen."

Trump criticised the billions spent on upgrading what he called an "old, broken system" instead of investing in a modern, efficient alternative.

Highlighting this point, he noted that his own private jet relies on a foreign system, claiming the US infrastructure is “obsolete.”

His remarks, however, have sparked widespread backlash, with many questioning whether his language was a tone-deaf misstep or an intentional provocation.

Trump Throws Blame Around for Fatal Crash

On 29 January, an American Airlines flight departing from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, resulting in the deadliest US aviation accident since 2001.

The crash claimed the lives of all 67 individuals aboard both aircraft.

In response, Trump blamed the tragedy on what he described as an “obsolete” computer system used by US air traffic controllers.

Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in the US Capitol, Trump criticised the billions spent attempting to "renovate an old, broken system" rather than investing in a modern one.

He claimed that on his private jet, he relies on a foreign air traffic control system because the US system is “obsolete.”

He noted:

“I think what is going to happen is we’re all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers.”

He asserted that the crash exposed critical flaws in the nation’s air traffic control system, which would now pave the way for the development of a more advanced, computerised system for control towers.

He expressed:

'Who would think that you’re in space? And two things collide. The odds of that happening are so small, even without proper control. We should have had the proper control. We should have had better equipment. We don’t, we have obsolete equipment. They were understaffed for whatever reason. I guess the helicopter was high. And we’ll find out exactly what happened."

Trump argued that a more advanced system would have triggered alarms when the Black Hawk, engaged in a training exercise, reached the plane's altitude.

However, an FAA report contradicted Trump’s claims, stating that controllers did receive an alert when the aircraft were still over a mile apart.

The controller instructed the helicopter to pass behind the plane, and the helicopter crew confirmed they had the plane in sight.

The NTSB later revealed that advanced surveillance technology onboard the helicopter had been turned off during the exercise.

Trump’s shifting blame—initially attributing the crash to diversity hiring programs before targeting outdated technology—has drawn scrutiny.

Additionally, concerns arose that his federal workforce reduction efforts could exacerbate air traffic controller shortages.

However, the controllers’ union clarified that FAA positions, including air traffic controllers, were exempt from recent federal resignation offers.