Trump was challenged after blaming DEI for the DC plane crash. Here’s what he said

President Donald Trump holding a press conference in Florida on January 30, 2025. (AP photo)
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Updated 31 January 2025
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Trump was challenged after blaming DEI for the DC plane crash. Here’s what he said

  • Trump on Thursday variously pointed the finger at the helicopter’s pilot, air traffic control, his predecessor, Joe Biden, and other Democrats

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida: President Donald Trump began his White House briefing Thursday with a moment of silence and a prayer for victims of Wednesday’s crash at Reagan National Airport. But his remarks quickly became a diatribe against diversity hiring and his allegation — so far without evidence — that lowered standards were to blame for the crash.
Trump on Thursday variously pointed the finger at the helicopter’s pilot, air traffic control, his predecessor, Joe Biden, and other Democrats including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whom he labeled a “disaster.” Buttigieg responded by calling Trump “despicable.”
The cause of the crash is still unknown. Authorities are investigating and have not publicly identified the cause or said who might have been responsible for the collision of an American Airlines plane and a US Army helicopter.
Reporters on Thursday challenged Trump’s claims. Here’s a look at how Trump responded to some of their questions.
Placing blame on diversity hiring
Trump was asked repeatedly to explain why he was blaming federal diversity and inclusion promotion efforts for the crash, at one point alleging that previous leadership had determined that the Federal Aviation Administration workforce was “too white.” He did not back up those claims, while also declaring it was still not clear the FAA or air traffic controllers were responsible for the crash.
Q: “Are you saying this crash was somehow caused as the result of diversity hiring? And what evidence have you seen to support these claims?”
TRUMP: “It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a much higher standard than anybody else. And there are things where you have to go by brainpower. You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful tests that we put to use. And they were terminated by Biden. And Biden went by a standard that seeks the exact opposite. So we don’t know. But we do know that you had two planes at the same level. You had a helicopter and a plane. That shouldn’t have happened. And, we’ll see. We’re going to look into that, and we’re going to see. But certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior. And that’s what we’re going to have.”

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Q: “You have today blamed the diversity elements but then told us that you weren’t sure that the controllers made any mistake. You then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were the ones who made the mistake.”
TRUMP: “It’s all under investigation.”
Q: “I understand that. That’s why I’m trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash.”
TRUMP: “Because I have common sense. OK? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level. When you have 60 planes coming in during a short period of time, and they’re all coming in different directions, and you’re dealing with very high-level computer, computer work and very complex computers.”
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Trump was challenged on his claim that the FAA under Democratic presidents had promoted the hiring of people with disabilities. The page Trump referenced has existed on the FAA’s website for a decade, including his first term.
Q: “The implication that this policy is new or that it stems from efforts that began under President Biden or the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, is demonstrably false. It’s been on the FAA’s website — ”
TRUMP: “Who said that, you?”
Q: “No, it’s on the website, the FAA’s website. It was there from 2013 ... it was there for the entirety, it was there for the entirety of your administration, too. So my question is, why didn’t you change the policy during your first administration?”
TRUMP: “I did change it. I changed the Obama policy, and we had a very good policy. And then Biden came in and he changed it. And then when I came in two days, three days ago, I signed a new order, bringing it to the highest level of intelligence.”
Calling for fast confirmations
Trump agreed it was helpful to have Sean Duffy, his new transportation secretary, sworn and ready to respond when the major crisis hit.
Q: “Is it helpful to have your secretary of transportation confirmed and does this intensify your interest in getting other nominees confirmed quickly as well?”
TRUMP: “For sure, we want fast confirmations. And the Democrats, as you know, are doing everything they can to delay. They’ve taken too long. We’re struggling to get very good people that everybody knows are going to be confirmed. But we’re struggling to get them out faster. We want them out faster.”
Reassuring people it is safe to fly
Trump was asked if Americans should feel safe to fly after the crash.
According to the FAA, Trump is expected to fly to Palm Beach, Florida, where his Mar-a-Lago club is located, for the weekend on Friday.
Trump took another opportunity to criticize diversity hiring efforts for the crash as he wrapped up the news briefing.
Q: “Should people be hesitant to fly right now?”
TRUMP: “No. Not at all. I would not hesitate to fly. This is something that it’s been many years that something like this has happened, and the collision is just something that, we don’t expect ever to happen again. We are going to have the highest-level people. We’ve already hired some of the people that you already hired for that position long before we knew about this. I mean, long before, from the time I came in, we started going out and getting the best people because I said ‘It’s not appropriate what they’re doing.’ I think it’s a tremendous mistake. You know? They like to do things, and they like to take them too far. And this is sometimes what ends up happening.
“Now with that, I’m not blaming the controller. I’m saying there are things that you could question, like the height of the helicopter, the height of the plane being at the same level and going the opposite direction. That’s not a positive. But, no, we’re already hiring people.
“Flying is very safe. We have the safest flying anywhere in the world, and we’ll keep it that way.”
 


British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban in Afghanistan

Updated 5 sec ago
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British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban in Afghanistan

  • Peter Reynolds, 79, and wife Barbie, 75, have spent 18 years running training projects in country
  • Daughter says she has not heard from her parents for over 2 weeks

LONDON: A British couple in their seventies were arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan earlier this month, it was reported on Sunday.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, who have spent 18 years running training projects in the country, were detained on Feb. 1 while returning to their home in Bamiyan.

Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks. Initially, they were able to send text messages from detention, with Afghan authorities assuring the family that they were “fine.”

However, communication ended three days later, leaving their children in the dark about their well-being since.

Speaking from Daventry in Northamptonshire, Entwistle said: “It’s been over two weeks since the messages stopped and they were taken into custody. We would like the Taliban to release them to go back to their home and continue their work.”

The couple, who met at the University of Bath and married in Kabul in 1970, have been running educational initiatives in Afghanistan since 2009.

Their work included training programs in five schools in Kabul and a project for mothers and children in Bamiyan, reportedly approved by local authorities despite the Taliban’s restrictions on female education and employment.

Entwistle told The Sunday Times: “They said they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need. They were meticulous about keeping by the rules even as they kept changing.”

She also expressed concern for her father’s health: “My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and (he) needs his heart medication after a mini-stroke. They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.”

Entwistle and her three brothers have written to the Taliban, pleading for their parents’ release.

“We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest,” they said in the letter.

“They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.”

They also distanced their parents from any potential prisoner exchange.

“Our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded,” they said.

Taliban sources told the BBC that British nationals had been arrested in Bamiyan province for allegedly working for a nongovernmental organization and using a plane without notifying local authorities. The Taliban has imposed strict regulations on NGOs, banning women from working for them in 2022 and threatening closures for non-compliance.

The UK Foreign Office has acknowledged the detention of two British nationals in Afghanistan but has limited capacity to assist, as Britain does not recognize the Taliban and has no embassy in Kabul.


Russia and US plan another meeting this week

Updated 23 February 2025
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Russia and US plan another meeting this week

  • Russia-US relations thawing under President Donald Trump
  • US talking to Moscow over Ukraine war

MOSCOW: Russian and US teams plan to meet this week to discuss improving relations after the war in Ukraine had pushed ties to the worst level since the depths of the Cold War, a senior Russian start diplomat said on Sunday.
With Russian forces having advanced last year at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the 2022 invasion, US President Donald Trump has said he wants to deliver a peace deal to end the war which he says has killed vast numbers of people.
Trump and President Vladimir Putin spoke on February 12 about improving relations and ending the war, and US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, on February 18 to that end.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Moscow’s point man for relations with the US, said that a meeting at the level of departmental heads would take place at the end of the week.
“We are open to contacts with the American side, in particular, on irritants in bilateral relations,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS.
“We are waiting for real progress when the meeting scheduled for the end of the coming week takes place.”
Trump has repeatedly said that he believes Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky want to do a deal.
Trump said on February 12 that it was not practical for Ukraine to get NATO alliance membership and that he had seen support for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s statement that Ukraine will not realistically return to its 2014 borders.
As the war enters its fourth year, Russia controls nearly one fifth of Ukraine — or an area about the size of the US state of Ohio — including Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, about 75 percent of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and more than 99 percent of the Luhansk region.
Russia says the land it controls is now Russian land under Russian law and the Russian nuclear umbrella, a position Ukraine and its Western European backers have said they will never recognize or accept.
Last June, Putin set out his terms for an end to the war: Ukraine must officially drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw troops from the entirety of the territory of the four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.


UN chief calls for Ukraine peace deal respecting ‘territorial integrity’

Updated 23 February 2025
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UN chief calls for Ukraine peace deal respecting ‘territorial integrity’

  • The Security Council vote will be on a US-backed draft resolution that makes no mention of Ukraine’s territorial integrity
  • US President Donald Trump has adopted a tougher stance on Kyiv while taking a friendlier tone toward Moscow

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Sunday, on the eve of a key United Nations vote, for a Ukraine peace deal that respects the country’s “territorial integrity.”
“I reaffirm the urgent need for a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace — one that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders,” Guterres said in a statement.
The Security Council vote will be on a US-backed draft resolution that makes no mention of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
“Monday 24 February marks three years since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in clear violation of the United Nations Charter and international law,” the UN chief said.
“Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, the war in Ukraine stands as a grave threat not only to the peace and security of Europe but also to the very foundations and core principles of the United Nations,” Guterres said.
He saluted “all efforts toward achieving a just and inclusive peace.”
The statement comes as US President Donald Trump has adopted a tougher stance on Kyiv while taking a friendlier tone toward Moscow.
The United States wants the Security Council and General Assembly to vote on a short text calling for a “swift end” to the devastating conflict, while making no mention of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Ukraine and its European allies are seeking a vote in the General Assembly on a text that repeats earlier demands for an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and an end to Russia’s attacks on its neighbor.
Similar resolutions have been voted on since Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022, and each has passed the General Assembly by overwhelming majorities, with support from the US administration of then president Joe Biden.


Bangladesh resumes direct trade with Pakistan after over 50 years

Updated 23 February 2025
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Bangladesh resumes direct trade with Pakistan after over 50 years

  • Bilateral ties have started to grow since the ouster of ex-PM Sheikh Hasina last August
  • Rice import may increase other opportunities for Bangladesh-Pakistan trade, expert says

DHAKA: Bangladesh will receive a delivery of 25,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan next month, its food ministry said on Sunday, confirming the resumption of direct bilateral trade between the two governments after more than five decades.

Following decades of acrimonious ties, Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have started to grow after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last August.

Bangladesh’s interim government has had more bilateral exchanges with Pakistan since, with the chief adviser, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, having met twice with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Earlier this month, Dhaka finalized a deal to import rice from Pakistan, the food ministry said.

“The first consignment of 25,000 tonnes will arrive in Bangladesh on March 3,” Zia Uddin Ahmed, an additional secretary at the ministry, told Arab News.

“Since 1971, this is the first time Bangladesh initiated rice import at (the government-to-government) level from Pakistan.”

Their growing trade ties followed the two South Asian nations’ direct maritime contact in November, when a Pakistani cargo ship docked in Bangladesh for the first time since 1971 with imports and exports organized by private businesses.

Amena Mohsin, an international relations expert and lecturer at the North South University, said resuming trade with Pakistan is an important move for Bangladesh.

“We want that bilateral relationship with Pakistan to move forward. We always diversify our relationships (but) most importantly, at the moment, we are experiencing a low point row with India … In this context, this latest decision to import rice from Pakistan is very significant,” she told Arab News.

In her 15 years of uninterrupted rule, Hasina’s government was hostile toward Pakistan but closely allied with India, where she fled last year following a student-led popular uprising and remains exiled. Her removal from office was followed by the cooling of relations between Dhaka and New Delhi.

“But (as we move) forward to strengthen the bilateral ties with Pakistan, the issue of 1971 should be resolved at the same time,” Mohsin added, referring to the 1971 war of independence, which he said still weighs heavy on the minds of the people of Bangladesh.

Dhaka’s decision to import rice from Pakistan has significance in addressing an ongoing crisis of the staple due to floods and economic instability, which has led the government to import large quantities from India to avoid shortage.

“At the moment, there is a rice crisis in the Bangladesh market, and we are in need of sourcing rice from different sources at a competitive price,” Dr. Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka, told Arab News.

“From that perspective, finding a new source (for importing rice) is a positive thing for us.”

Now that trade has resumed, Bangladesh and Pakistan have the potential to increase commerce ties in different areas, he added.

“Our businessmen can explore the Pakistan markets and consider the feasibility in terms of costs. With this latest rice import, opportunities to import other goods have increased here,” Moazzem said.

“It’s a new addition to the market, especially considering Bangladesh’s ongoing trade diversification efforts.”


Afghanistan’s only women-led radio station to resume broadcasts after Taliban suspension 

Updated 23 February 2025
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Afghanistan’s only women-led radio station to resume broadcasts after Taliban suspension 

  • Radio Begum launched in March 2021, with programs aimed at educating girls
  • In the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Afghanistan ranked 178 out of 180 countries 

Kabul: Afghanistan’s only women-led radio station will resume broadcasts, the Taliban Ministry of Information and Culture announced after it suspended the outlet’s operations this month over its cooperation with foreign media outlets. 

On Feb. 4, Taliban officials raided Kabul-based Radio Begum — a station run by women with programs aimed at educating girls and supporting Afghan women — and seized staff’s computers, hard drives and phones, and took into custody two male employees “who do not hold any senior management position,” the outlet said in a statement. 

In a statement issued on Saturday evening, the ministry said Radio Begum had been suspended “due to the improper use of their licenses and cooperation with foreign sanctioned media outlets.” 

Radio Begum has now been “granted permission to resume their activities,” the ministry said, after they made repeated requests and following a “pledge with the Broadcasting Directorate to operate in line with the principles of journalism and in accordance with the policies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

It did not provide details on what those principles and policies were nor the status of the radio station’s employees who were allegedly detained.

Launched on International Women’s Day in March 2021, Radio Begum has been broadcasting hours of lessons daily, along with health, psychology and spiritual programs for women across most of Afghanistan. 

Its sister satellite channel, Begum TV, operates from France and televises classes that cover the Afghan school curriculum from seventh to 12th grade, providing education for many after the Taliban banned education for women and girls after the sixth grade. 

“It’s one of the few channels that discussed issues related to women and girls,” said Najiba, 28, a Kabul resident and listener of Radio Begum. 

“I particularly listened to their programs on health and women entrepreneurs. I was happy to be able to receive some information about women-related health issues from the radio. The other program that featured businesswomen was also encouraging. It inspired other women and gave us hope to learn skills and work for ourselves.” 

While the resumption of Radio Begum’s operations was welcomed, the initial suspension was still concerning for Meena Akbari, an Afghan women’s rights activist. 

“It was a concerning move. The few media outlets that are left in the country should be supported instead of being contained and closed,” Akbari told Arab News.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the country’s media landscape has been “decimated,” according to Reporters without Borders, which cited the disappearance of 43 percent of Afghan media outlets in the past four years and ranked the country 178 out of 180 in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index. 

“With Afghan women and girls already facing increasing restrictions since the Taliban takeover, platforms such as these are vital for women to get information from and continue learning about different topics,” Akbari said. 

“It’s a good decision that the government allowed the station to resume broadcasts. Hopefully, it continues to benefit Afghan women and Afghans in general.”