In an act of radical transparency, President Donald Trump held a briefing in the White House Press Room Thursday to address the terrible tragedy that took place Wednesday evening in the skies over the Potomac River. The somber president began by holding a moment of silence in remembrance of the 67 lives, including Russian nationals, confirmed to have been lost when an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet making its final approach into Washington, DC's Reagan National Airport.

Also in attendance at the briefing were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

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President Trump called it an "hour of anguish" for our nation, with his thoughts clearly on the families and friends of the victims, not to mention the grief being felt across the country. 

A few themes developed over the course of the president's briefing and subsequent Q&A with the press: the accident never should have happened; DEI standards implemented at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during the Biden years may have contributed to events that led to the crash and the Trump administration will waste no time in investigating the accident; and the need to address hiring issues in the sphere of federal aviation and report the findings directly to the American people. 

President Trump addressed the actions taken by the Biden administration to lower the standards for aviation in general and air traffic controllers (ATCs) in particular, pointing to an FAA directive to prioritize the hiring of people with disabilities and severe psychiatric conditions. The action or inaction of Pete Buttigieg, Biden's secretary of transportation, was placed squarely in the spotlight.

He maintained the solution to the aviation safety issues created by Democrats was simply common sense: only hire applicants with "special talent" and "special genius" for demanding roles like ATCs.

The president invited Secretary Hegseth to address the military angle of the collision, and Hegseth was refreshingly honest in stating, "No excuses." He maintained that going forward, military hiring would be "color-blind and merit-based."

Hegseth also shared some information on the military helicopter involved, revealing it was on a "continuity of government mission" and the service members lost included a captain, staff sergeant and chief warrant officer. 

Hegseth had shared additional details earlier Thursday, confirming the flight crew in question was based at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia was experienced and was performing a required annual nighttime training session that involved wearing night vision goggles.

The briefing closed with the president conducting a Q&A with the press, many of whom seemed ready to spar over the mere mention of "DEI." In response to a DEI-related question from CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Trump responded, "Not a very smart question." 

President Trump had high praise for the coordinated efforts of federal, state and local officials to initiate rescue efforts quickly in the harsh winter conditions of the Potomac River. Of the victims, the president said their journey didn't end in the "icy waters" of the Potomac, but instead in the "warm embrace of the Almighty."