[During his press conference about the deadly collision between a passenger jet and military helicopter near Reagan National Airport, President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested that there was a link between the tragedy and diversity hiring policies at the Federal Aviation Administration. However, Trump provided no evidence to support this claim.
Trump read from a 2024 New York Post article that stated the FAA was “actively recruiting workers who suffer ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.” He also read from a 2024 Fox News article, saying, “This was (on) January 14, so that was a week before I entered office; they put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program.”
However, here are four important facts related to Trump’s claim:
* The Fox News article Trump cited was actually published on January 14 of last year, not a week before he entered office again.
* The FAA’s language encouraging the hiring of people with disabilities, including intellectual and psychiatric disabilities, was featured on the agency’s website throughout Trump’s first presidency and at least as far back as 2013.
* The Trump-era FAA also pushed to hire people with disabilities, and the agency’s Aviation Safety Workforce Plan for the 2020-2029 period said the FAA would continue to promote and support the hiring of people with disabilities and targeted disabilities.
* The hiring of people with targeted disabilities is a small fraction of overall FAA hiring, with the agency’s annual goal for hiring people with targeted disabilities generally being in the vicinity of 2%.
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