'Biden admin was FAA disaster': Trump breaks silence on US flight chaos, demands Congress fund air traffic control overhaul

US President Donald Trump has broken his silence after a major air traffic control telecommunications outage in the country triggered a rare four-hour nationwide ground stop. In a series of post in Truth Social platform, he has blamed the Joe Biden administration for the FAA's ground stop. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Bryan Bedford said that Friday's ground stop – that was the longest halt to US air travel since the September 11 attacks in 2001 – will resume fully by "close of business on Sunday." Trump, who has faced questions over the massive aviation disruption, pinned the blame on previous administration and declared: “Our FAA is doing a great job.”

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What Trump said?

The 80-year-old president has made no public appearances to address the incident, which affected about a quarter of the 45,000 flights in the US each day. He wrote on Truth Social: “The Biden Administration was an FAA disaster. Everything they touched turned bad. Big money spent unwisely, making an old and broken system worse than when they began.” He also added, "We have the knowledge and plan for the Flight Control Systems, we need Congress to give the money, FAST! Our FAA is doing a great job, and is ready to go. President DJT," the president continued. Earlier, his administration also blamed Friday's ground stop on a botched replacement of old copper wire communication lines.

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Trump shared an article headlined: “Trump admin rips Biden admin handling of air traffic control after FAA ground stop.” Minutes later, the president's rant continued in another post. "If Congress approves the desperately needed money for Air Traffic Control, we can get it built quickly and efficiently. It will be the BEST SYSTEM anywhere in the World," he declared. "Much of our current air control system is 50 years old - RIDICULOUS!" he complained. "We have already started the work, but it should be done all at once, not in drips and drabs. Congress must approve. The Biden Administration set it back years!"

In other post, the US president appeared to shift his focus to a separate legal battle involving a golf course in Washington, taking aim at a judge appointed by former president Joe Biden. In a post on Truth Social, he accused the judge of delaying the reconstruction of the facility, which he mockingly called “Trash Island”, by another two weeks. He said the Department of the Interior would appeal the ruling on an expedited basis, arguing that the golf course was in a dangerous state of disrepair and needed immediate repairs.

The problem began when contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc. was replacing a section of the air traffic control system’s old copper wire with new fiber wire, somehow causing the system to overload, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. The work led to “intermittent” communications and radar gaps, prompting the government to shut down air traffic for more than four hours. Officials were investigating whether contractor “incompetence” or a faulty router was the cause,” he said.