Pete Buttigieg hits back after ‘despicable’ Trump tries to blame him for deadly plane crash

Former US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has hit back at Donald Trump, branding the US president “despicable” after he attempted to blame him for this week’s deadly plane crash in Washington, DC.

On Wednesday night (29 January), an American Eagle Flight 5342, which had 60 passengers and four crew members aboard, collided with an Army helicopter carrying three crew members. Officials reported that there were no survivors. The collision marked the first major commercial airline crash since 2009. 

During a press conference on Thursday (30 January), Trump addressed the Washington plane crash, blaming “diversity” and the actions of Buttigieg, who he described as a “disaster”. 

Despite starting his second term by dismissing people in key safety positions in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Trump continued to blame Buttigieg.

‘He’s a disaster’

He said: “The FAA, which was overseen by Pete Buttigieg — a real winner, that guy’s a real winner. You know how badly everything’s run since he’s run this Department of Transportation? He’s a disaster. 

Former reality TV star Sean Duffy has been appointed as the new US transportation secretary.

Taking to X, gay dad Buttigieg hit back at Trump, calling him, and his words, “despicable”. 

He wrote: “Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.” 

Buttigieg then criticised Trump’s actions: “President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”

Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.
President Trump now oversees the military and the…

— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) January 30, 2025

Since returning to the White House on 20 January, Trump has offered severance packages to two million federal workers in his bid to reduce the size of the US government. 

Among those believed to have been dismissed in his firing of federal employees are air traffic controllers, while Michael Whitaker, the former head of the FAA, resigned after Elon Musk demanded his departure following Whitaker’s proposal of over $600,000 in fines for Musk’s company, SpaceX, over safety concerns.

Last year, Buttigieg, who made history when he became the first openly gay US cabinet secretary in 2021, hit back at JD Vance over a past “childless” comment aimed at Democrats. 

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