Trump Takes Action on Flight Safety, DEI with New Executive Orders Post-Reagan Airport Tragedy

President Donald Trump wasted no time responding to the horrific midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, signing two executive orders on Thursday aimed at restoring aviation safety and eliminating dangerous DEI policies that have plagued the FAA.

The tragedy, which claimed 67 lives after an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet collided midair, was described by Trump as “preventable”. His response? A complete overhaul of aviation hiring and safety standards that had deteriorated under the Biden administration.

Trump’s first executive order appoints Chris Rochelau as acting administrator of the FAA, filling a critical leadership vacancy that should have never been left open in the first place.

The second executive order, titled “Immediate Assessment of Aviation Safety,” directs the Department of Transportation and FAA to:

• Conduct a full review of all hiring decisions and safety changes made during the past four years.

• Reverse any lowered hiring standards implemented under Biden’s DEI agenda.

• Replace unqualified personnel who fail to meet merit-based qualification standards.

Trump made it clear that his administration will not tolerate incompetence when American lives are at stake.

Trump’s order specifically calls out both Biden and Obama for their dangerous push to replace merit-based hiring with “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) quotas.

• Under Obama, the FAA removed its objective aptitude test in favor of a “biographical questionnaire”, lowering the standards for air traffic controllers.

• Biden made it even worse, recruiting individuals with “severe intellectual disabilities” to fill FAA positions, ignoring the need for high-level cognitive skills in one of the most technically demanding jobs in the country.

“Yesterday’s devastating accident tragically underscores the need to elevate safety and competence as the priority of the FAA,” Trump’s order reads.

Trump reaffirmed to reporters that while it’s unclear whether DEI played a direct role in this crash, it is undeniable that air traffic controllers and pilots must be hired based on ability not race or gender quotas.

• “We want the most competent people,” Trump stated. “We don’t care what race they are.”

• “You’re talking about extremely complex things, and if they don’t have a great brain, a great power of the brain, they’re not going to be very good at what they do and bad things will happen.”

Trump also pointed out a major failure in flight coordination:

• “The helicopter should’ve been 1,000 feet above or 500 feet below the plane.”

• “The plane was at 300-400 feet, why was the helicopter at the same level?”

Trump questioned whether air traffic controllers also bear responsibility for the disaster, reinforcing the need for immediate reform.

This tragedy is yet another example of how Biden’s obsession with DEI and lowered standards has put American lives at risk. Trump’s swift and decisive action sends a clear message: competence comes first.

This is the leadership America needs. The days of prioritizing identity politics over national security and public safety are over.

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