The mid-air collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter over Washington, DC Wednesday night appears to have left all 67 people involved dead.
It is almost certain to be the deadliest accident in American skies in over two decades. It is a tragedy.
What do we expect from our president in these moments of national mourning? And has that changed in the era of Donald Trump?
Let’s first note what Trump has said.
In an official White House statement released shortly after the accident, which happened just before 9 pm eastern time, Trump said this:
I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.
Which is very much in keeping with what past presidents — Democrat or Republican — would have said.
But then, at 12:19 am on Thursday morning, Trump took to Truth Social and wrote this:
Which is NOT what past presidents would say. Engaging in the blame game while the recovery process is still very much ongoing would have been regarded as tasteless by past presidents.
Yes, there will be a time to assess blame. And, yes, initial analysis seems to suggest this tragedy could have been prevented.
But, again, first responders are still pulling dead bodies from the water. We are just over 12 hours removed from the collision.
Trump has changed so many rules about how a president can or should behave. Is this another one?
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